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Ziska 



The Problem of 
a Wicked Soul 



BY 



Marie Corelli 



Author of *' The Sorrows of Satan," 
/^Barabbas," 

. " A Romance of 1 wo Worlds/' 
" The Mighty Atom/' 

etc., etc. 



W 



Bristol ^Q ^ London 

97 
Arrowsmith Simpkin, Marshall 



■\] 



Kidnapped in London 



JBcinQ tbe Stors of ms 

CAPTURE BY, 
DETENTION AT, 

AND 

RELEASE FROM 

7>&^ Chinese Legation^ London 



SUN YAT SEN 



BRISTOL 
J. W. Arrowsmith, II Quay Street 

LONDON 
SiMPKiN, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Company Limited 



^ 









CONTENTS. 



Page 
CHAPTER I. 

THE IMBROGLIO 9 



CHAPTER II. 

MY CAPTURE 28 

CHAPTER III. 

MY IMPRISONMENT 40 

CHAPTER IV. 

PLEADING WITH MY GAOLERS FOR 

LIFE 50 

CHAPTER V. 

THE PART MY FRIENDS PLAYED . .62 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE SEARCH FOR A DETECTIVE . . 75 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENE . . 83 

CHAPTER VIII. 

RELEASED 94 

APPENDIX 107 



PREFACE. 



MY recent detention in the Chinese Le- 
gation, 49 Portland Place, London, 
has excited so much interest, has brought 
me so many friends and has raised so 
many legal, technical and international 
points of law, that I feel I should be failing 
in my duty did I not place on public 
record, all the circumstances connected 
with the historical event. 

I must beg the indulgence of all 
readers for my shortcomings in English 
composition, and confess that had it not 
been for the help rendered by a good 
friend, who transcribed my thoughts, I 
could never have ventured to appear as 
the Author of an English book. 

SUN YAT SEN. 
London, 1897. 



IRibnappeb in %onbon. 



o^o 



CHAPTER I. 

THE IMBROGLIO. 

WHEN in 1892 I settled in Macao, 
a small island near the mouth of 
the Canton river, to practise medicine, 
I Httle dreamt that in four years time 
I should find myself a prisoner in the 
Chinese Legation in London, and the 
unwitting cause of a political sensation 
which culminated in the active interference 
of the British Government to procure my 
release. It was in that year however, and 
at Macao, that my first acquaintance was 



10 Kidnapped in London. 

made with political life ; and there began 
the part of my career which has been the 
means of bringing my name so prominently 
before the British people. 

I had been studying medicine, during 
the year 1886, in Canton at the Anglo- 
American Mission, under the direction of 
the venerable Dr. Kerr, when in 1887 I 
heard of the opening of a College of 
Medicine at Hong Kong, and determined 
immediately to avail myself of the advan- 
tages it offered. 

After five years' study (1887 — 1892) 
I obtained the diploma entithng me to 
style myself ^^ Licentiate in Medicine and 
Surgery, Hong Kong." 

Macao has belonged to Portugal for 360 
years ; but although the Government is 
Europeanised, the inhabitants are mostly 
Chinese, and the section of the population 
which styles itself Portuguese, consists 
really of Eurasians of several in-bred 
generations. 



The Imbroglio. Ii 

In my newly selected home, I found the 
Chinese authorities of the native hospital 
willing to help me forward in the matter 
of affording me opportunities to practise 
European medicine and surgery. They 
placed a ward at my disposal, suppHed me 
with drugs and appliances from London, 
and granted me every privilege whereby 
to secure my introduction amongst them 
on a fair footing. 

This event deserves special notice as 
marking a new and significant departure 
in China ; for never before had the Board 
of Directors of any Chinese hospital 
throughout the length and breadth of 
the great empire given any direct official 
encouragement to Western medicine. 
Many patients, more especially surgical 
cases, came to my wards, and I had the 
opportunity of performing several of the 
major operations before the Directors. 
On the other hand, I had difficulty from 
the first with the Portuguese authorities. 



12 Kidnapped in London, 

It was not the obstructive ignorance of 
the East, but the jealousy of the West, 
which stepped in to thwart my progress. 
The law of Portugal forbids the practice 
of medicine, within Portuguese territory, 
by any one who is not possessed of a 
Portuguese diploma, obtainable only in 
Europe. Under this rule the Portuguese 
doctors took refuge and fought my claims 
to practise. They first forbade me to 
practise amongst, or prescribe for, Portu- 
guese ; the dispensers in the pharmacies 
were not allowed to dispense prescriptions 
from the pen of a doctor of any alien 
nationality ; consequently my progress 
was hampered from the first. After futile 
attempts to establish myself in Macao, 
and at considerable pecuniary loss, for I 
had settled down little dreaming of oppo- 
sition, I was induced to go to Canton. 

It was in Macao that I first learned of 
the existence of a political movement 
which I might best describe as the for- 



The Imbroglio. 13 

mation of a ^^ Young China'' party. Its 
objects were so wise, so modest, and so 
hopeful, that my sympathies were at once 
enhsted in its behalf, and I believed I was 
doing my best to further the interests of 
my country by joining it. The idea was 
to bring about a peaceful reformation, and 
we hoped, by forwarding modest schemes 
of reform to the Throne, to initiate a 
form of government more consistent with 
modern requirements. The prime essence 
of the movement was the establishment 
of a form of constitutional government to 
supplement the old-fashioned, corrupt, 
and worn-out system under which China 
is groaning. 

It is unnecessary to enter into details 
as to what form of rule obtains in China 
at present. It may be summed up, how- 
ever, in a few words. The people have 
no say whatever in the management of 
Imperial, National, or even Municipal 
affairs. The mandarins, or local magis- 



14 Kidnapped in London. 

trates, have full power of adjudication, 
from which there is no appeal. Their 
word is law, and they have full scope to 
practise their machinations with complete 
irresponsibility, and every officer may 
fatten himself with impunity. Extortion 
by officials is an institution ; it is the con- 
dition on which they take office ; and it is 
only when the bleeder is a bungler that 
the government steps in with pretended 
benevolence to ameHorate but more often 
to complete the depletion. 

English readers are probably unaware 
of the smallness of the established salaries 
of provincial magnates. They will scarcely 
credit that the Viceroy of, say. Canton, 
ruling a country with a population larger 
than that of Great Britain, is allowed as 
his legal salary the paltry sum of £to 
a year ; so that, in order to live and 
maintain himself in office, accumulating 
fabulous riches the while, he resorts 
to extortion and the selling of justice. 



The Imbroglio. 15 

So-called education and the results of 
examinations' are the one means of 
obtaining official notice. Granted that 
a young scholar gains distinction, he 
proceeds to seek public employment, and, 
by bribing the Peking authorities, an 
official post is hoped for. Once obtained, 
as he cannot live on his salary, perhaps 
he even pays so much annually for his 
post, licence to squeeze is the result, 
and the man must be stupid indeed who 
cannot, when backed up by government, 
make himself rich enough to buy a still 
higher post in a few years. With ad- 
vancement comes increased licence and 
additional facility for self-enrichment, so 
that the cleverest ^^ squeezer'' ultimately 
can obtain money enough to purchase the 
highest positions. 

This official thief, with his mind warped 
by his mode of life, is the ultimate au- 
thority in all matters of social, political, 
and criminal life. It is a feudal system. 



1 6 Kidnapped in London. 

an imperiiim in imperio^ an unjust auto- 
cracy, which thrives by its own rottenness. 
But this system of fattening on the pubHc 
vitals — the selhng of power — is the chief 
means by which the Manchu dynasty 
continues to exist. With this legaHsed 
corruption stamped as the highest ideal 
of government, who can wonder at the 
existence of a strong undercurrent of 
dissatisfaction among the people ? 

The masses of China, although kept 
officially in ignorance of what is going on 
in the world around them, are anything 
but a stupid people. All European au- 
thorities on this matter state that the 
latent intellectual ability of the Chinese 
is considerable ; and many place it even 
above that of the masses in any other 
country, European or Asiatic. Books on 
politics are not allowed ; daily newspapers 
are prohibited in China ; the world around, 
its people and poHtics, are shut out ; while 
no one below the grade of a mandarin of 



The Imbroglio. 17 

the seventh rank is allowed to read Chinese 
geography, far less foreign. The laws of 
the present dynasty are not for public 
reading ; they are known only to the 
highest officials. The reading of books 
on military subjects is, in common with 
that of other prohibited matter, not only 
forbidden, but is even punishable by death. 
No one is allowed, on pain of death, to 
invent anything new, or to make known 
any new discovery. In this way are the 
people kept in darkness, while the govern- 
ment doles out to them what scraps of 
information it finds will suit its own ends. 
The so-called *^ Literati'' of China are 
allowed to study only the Chinese classics 
and the commentaries thereon. These 
consist of the writings of ancient philo- 
sophers, the works of Confucius and others. 
But of even these, all parts relating to the 
criticism of their superiors are carefully 
expunged, and only those parts are pub- 
lished for public reading which teach 



1 8 Kidnapped in London, 

obedience to authorities as the essence 
of all instruction. In this way is China 
ruled — or rather misruled — namely, by 
the enforcement of blind obedience to all 
existing laws and formalities. 

To keep the masses in ignorance is the 
constant endeavour of Chinese rule. In 
this way it happened, that during the last 
Japanese incursion, absolutely nothing was 
known of the war by the masses of China, 
in parts other than those where the cam- 
paign was actually waged. Not only did 
the people a short way inland never hear 
of the war, but the masses had never even 
heard of a people called Japanese ; and 
even where the whisper had been echoed, 
it was discussed as being a ^' rebellion " of 
the '* foreign man." 

With this incubus hanging over her, 
China has no chance of reform except it 
come from the Throne; and it was to 
induce the Throne to modify this pernicious 
state of things that the ''Young China " 



The Imbroglio. 19 

party was formed. Hoping that the 
Peking authorities, by their more extended 
contact during recent years with foreign 
diplomatists, might have learned some- 
thing of constitutional rule, and might be 
willing to aid the people in throwing off 
their deplorable ignorance, I ventured, 
with others, to approach them, beseeching 
them, in all humility, to move in this 
direction for the welfare of China. These 
petitions only resulted in the infliction of 
many rigorous punishments. We had 
seized the moment when the Japanese 
were threatening Peking, and the Emperor, 
fearing that harsh dealings with the 
reformers might alienate many of his 
people, took no notice of them until 
peace was assured. Then an edict was 
issued denouncing the petitioners and 
commanding the immediate cessation of 
all suggestions of reform. 

Finding the door closed to. mild means, 

we grew more concrete in our notions and 

2 * 



20 Kidnapped in London. 

demands, and gradually came to see that 
some degree of coercion would be necessary. 
In all quarters we found supporters. The 
better classes were dissatisfied with the 
behaviour of our armies and fleets, and 
knew that corruption in its worst forms was 
the cause of their failure. This feeling was 
not confined to one locality, but was wide- 
spread and deep-rooted, and promised to 
take shape and find expression in decided 
action. 

The headquarters of the ' ^ Young China' ' 
party was really in Shanghai, but the 
scene of action was to be laid in Canton. 
The party was aided in its course by one 
or two circumstances. First among these 
was the existence of discontented soldiery. 
Three-fourths of the Cantonese contingent 
were disbanded when the war in the North 
had ceased in 1895. This set loose a 
number of idle, lawless men ; and the 
small section of their comrades who were 
retained in service were no better pleased 



The Imbroglio. 21 

than those dismissed. Either disband all 
or retain all, was their cry ; but the 
authorities were deaf to the remonstrance. 
The reform party at once enlisted the 
sympathies of these men in their cause, 
and so gained numerical strength to their 
military resources. 

Another chance coincidence hastened 
events. For some reason or other a body of 
police, discarding their uniform, set to work 
to loot and plunder a section of the city- 
After an hour or two, the inhabitants rose, 
and obtaining mastery of the quondam 
police, shut some half-dozen of the ring- 
leaders up in their Guildhall. The super- 
intendent of the official poHce then sent 
out a force to release the marauders, and 
proceeded forthwith to plunder the Guild- 
hall itself. A meeting of the inhabitants 
was immediately held, and a deputation 
of looo men sent to the Governor's 
residence to appeal against the action of 
the police. The authorities, however, told 



22 Kidnapped in London, 

the deputation that such a proceeding was 
tantamount to a rebelUon, and that they 
had no right to threaten their superiors. 
They thereupon arrested the ringleaders 
of the deputation, and sent the others 
about their business. The discontents 
soon became disaffected, and, the ^^ Young 
China " party making advances, they 
readily joined the reformers. 

Yet a third and a fourth incident helped 
to swell their ranks. The Viceroy, Li 
Han Chang (brother of the famous Viceroy 
Li), put a fixed tariff on all official posts 
throughout his two provinces, Kwang- 
Tung and Kwang-Si. This was an inno- 
vation which meant a further '' squeeze " 
of the people, as the officials, of course, 
made the people pay to indemnify them 
for their extra payments. The fourth, 
and the most characteristically Chinese, 
method of extortion was afforded in the 
occasion of the Viceroy's birthday. The 
officials in his provinces combined to give 



The Imbroglio. 23 

their master a present, and collected 
money to the amount of a million taels 
(about ;^200,ooo). Of course the officials 
took the money from the richer merchants 
in the usual way, by threats, by promises, 
and by blackmailing. A follower of Li 
Han Chang, Che Fa Nung by name, 
further angered all the '* Literati'' by 
selling, to all who could afford to pay, 
diplomas of graduation for 3000 taels 
(about ;^5oo) each. The richer men and 
the *^ Literati " became thereby disaffected 
and threw in their lot with *^ Young 
China.'' 

In this way the reform movement 
acquired great strength and coherence 
and wide-spread influence, and brought 
matters all too soon to a climax. The 
plan was to capture the city of Canton 
and depose the authorities, taking them 
by surprise and securing them in as quiet 
a way as possible, or, at any rate, without 
bloodshed. To ensure a complete coup^ 



24 Kidnapped in London. 

it was considered necessary to bring an 
overwhelming force to bear ; consequently, 
two bodies of men were employed, one in 
Swatow and the other from the banks of 
the West river. These places were fixed 
upon as the Swatow men, for instance, 
were totally ignorant of the Cantonese 
language. Although only i8o miles north 
of Canton, the language of Swatow differs 
as much from that of Canton as Enghsh 
does from Itahan. It was deemed wise 
to bring strangers in, as they were more 
likely to be staunch to the cause, since 
they could not communicate with, and 
therefore could not be tampered with by, 
Cantonese men. Nor would it be safe for 
them to disband or desert, as they would 
be known as strangers, and suspicion would 
at once fall on them were they found in 
Canton after the disturbance. 

It was arranged that on a certain day 
in October, 1895, these men should march 
across country, one body from the south- 



The Imbroglio. 25 

west, the other from the north-east, towards 
Canton. All proceeded satisfactorily, and 
they commenced their advance. Frequent 
meetings of the Committee of Reformers 
were held, and arms, ammmiition and 
dynamite were accumulated at the head- 
quarters. The soldiers advancing across 
the country were to be still further 
strengthened by a contingent of four 
hundred men from Hong Kong. The 
day for the assemblage came and the 
southern men were halted within four 
hours march of the city. A guard of one 
hundred men, fully armed, was stationed 
around the Committee in their Guild ; 
runners, some thirty in number, were 
despatched to the disaffected over the 
city to be ready for the following morning. 
Whilst the conspirators sat within their 
hall a telegram was received to the effect 
that the advancing soldiers had been 
stayed in their progress, and the reform 
movement forthwith became disconcerted. 



26 Kidnapped in London. 

It was impossible to recall the messengers, 
and others could not be found who knew 
where the disaffected were resident. 
Further news came to hand rendering it 
impossible to proceed, and the cry arose 
^ ^ Sauve qui pent. ' ' A general stampede fol- 
lowed ; papers were burnt, arms hidden, 
and telegrams despatched to Hong Kong 
to stop the contingent from that place. 
The telegram to the Hong Kong agent, 
however, only reached him after all his 
men had been got on board a steamer, 
which also carried many barrels of revol- 
vers. Instead of dismissing the men as 
he should have done, he allowed them to 
proceed, and they landed on the wharf of 
Canton only to find themselves placed 
under arrest. The leaders in Canton 
fled, some one way, some another ; I 
myself, after several hairbreadth escapes, 
getting on board a steam launch in which 
I sailed to Macao. Remaining there for 
twenty-four hours only, I proceeded to 



The Imbroglio. 27 

Hong Kong, where, after calling on some 
friends, I sought my old teacher and 
friend, Mr. James Canthe. Having 
informed him that I was in trouble 
through having offended the Cantonese 
authorities, and fearing that I should be 
arrested and sent to Canton for execution, 
he advised me to consult a lawyer, which 
I immediately proceeded to do. 



CHAPTER II. 



MY CAPTURE. 



I DID not see Mr. Cantlie again, as Mr. 
Dennis, who directed my steps, con- 
strained me to get away at once. 

In two days time I went by Japanese 
steamer to Kobe, whence, after a few 
days' stay, I proceeded to Yokohama. 
There I changed my Chinese attire for a 
European costume a la Japanese. I 
removed my queue, allowed my hair to 
grow naturally and cultivated my mou- 
stache. In a few days I sailed from 
Yokohama for the Hawaiian Islands and 
there took up my quarters in the town of 
Honolulu, where I had many relations, 
friends and well-wishers. Wherever I 
went, whether in Japan, Honolulu, or 

28 



My Capture, 29 



America, I found all intelligent Chinese 
imbued with the spirit of reform and eager 
to obtain a form of representative govern- 
ment for their native land. 

Whilst walking in the streets of Hono- 
lulu I met Mr. and Mrs. Cantlie and 
family, who were then on their way to 
England. They did not at first recognise 
me in my European dress, and their 
Japanese nurse at once addressed me in 
the Japanese language, taking me for a 
countryman. This happened frequently, 
Japanese everywhere at first taking me 
for one of themselves and only finding 
their mistake when they spoke to me. 

I left Honolulu in June, 1896, for 
San Francisco, where I remained for a 
month before proceeding eastward. There 
I met many of my countrymen and was 
well received by them. I spent three 
months in America, and came to Liver- 
pool by the s.s. Majestic, In New York I 
was advised to beware the Chinese 



30 Kidnapped in London. 



Minister to the United States, as he is a 
Manchurian, and has but Httle sympathy 
with Chinese generally and a reformer in 
particular. 

On October ist, 1896, I arrived in 
London and put up at HaxelPs Hotel in 
the Strand. I went next day to Mr. 
Cantlie's, at 46 Devonshire Street, Port- 
land Place, W., where I received a hearty 
welcome from my old friend and his wife. 
Lodgings were found for me at 8 Gray's 
Inn Place, Gray's Inn, Holborn. Hence- 
forward I proceeded to settle down to 
enjoy my stay in London and to become 
acquainted with the many sights, the 
museums and the historical relics in this 
the very centre of the universe. What 
impressed me, a Chinaman, most was the 
enormous vehicular traffic, the endless 
and unceasing stream of omnibusses, 
cabs, carriages, wagons, and wheeled 
conveyances of humbler character which 
held the streets ; the wonderful way in 



My Capture, 31 



which the police controlled and directed 
the traffic, and the good humour of the 
people. The foot passengers are, of 
course, many, but they are not in such 
crowds as we find in Chinese streets. 
For one thing, our streets are much 
narrower, being, in fact, mere alleys ; and, 
in the second place, all our goods are 
conveyed by human carriage, everything 
being slung from a bamboo pole carried 
across the shoulders. Yet even in the 
wide streets of Hong Kong our foot 
passenger traffic is in swarms. 

I was just beginning to know Holborn 
from the Strand, and Oxford Circus from 
Piccadilly Circus, when I was deprived of 
my liberty in the fashion so fully described 
by the public press of the country. 

I had been frequently at Mr. Cantlie's, 
almost daily in fact, and spent most of 
my time in his study. One day at 
luncheon he alluded to the Chinese Lega- 
tion being in the neighbourhood, and 



32 Kidnapped in London. 

jokingly suggested that I might go round 
and call there ; whereat his wife remarked, 
'* You had better not. Don't you go near 
it ; they '11 catch you and ship you off to 
China.'' We all enjoyed a good laugh 
over the remark, little knowing how true 
the womanly instinct was, and how soon 
we were to experience the reality. While 
dining one evening at Dr. Manson's, 
whom I had also known in Hong Kong, 
as my teacher in medicine, I was 
jokingly advised by him also to keep away 
from the Chinese Legation. I was well 
warned, therefore ; but as I did not know 
where the Legation was, the warning was 
of little use. I knew that to get to 
Devonshire Street I had to get off the 
omnibus at Oxford Circus, and from 
thence go straight north up a wide street 
till I found the name Devonshire on the*^ 
corner house. That was the extent of 
my knowledge of the locality at this time. 
On Sunday morning, October nth, at 



My Capture, 33 



almost half-past ten, I was walking towards 
Devonshire Street, hoping to be in time 
to go to church with the doctor and his 
family, when a Chinaman approached in 
a surreptitious manner from behind and 
asked, in EngHsh, whether I was Japanese 
or Chinese. I repHed, '^ I am Chinese." 
He then inquired from what province I 
came, and when I told him I was from 
Canton he said, '^ We are countrymen, 
and speak the same language ; I am from 
Canton." It should be observed that 
EngHsh or *' Pidgin," that is ** business " 
English, is the common language between 
Chinamen from different localities. A 
Swatow and a Cantonese merchant, al- 
though their towns are but 180 miJes apart 
(less than the distance between London 
and Liverpool), may be entirely ignorant 
of each other's spoken language. The 
written language is the same all over 
China, but the written and spoken 
languages are totally different, and the 

3 



34 Kidnapped in London. 

spoken languages are many. A Swatow 
merchant, therefore, doing business in 
Hong Kong with a Cantonese man, speaks 
EngHsh, but writes in the common lan- 
guage of China. While upon this subject 
it may be well to state that the Japanese 
written language is the same in its charac- 
ters as that used by the Chinese ; so that 
a Chinaman and a Japanese when they 
meet, although having no spoken words 
in common, can figure to each other on 
the ground or on paper, and frequently 
make imaginary figures on one hand with 
the forefinger of the other to their mutual 
understanding. 

My would-be Chinese friend, therefore, 
addressed me in English until he found 
my dialect. We then conversed in the 
Cantonese dialect. Whilst he was talking 
we were slowly advancing along the street, 
and presently a second Chinaman joined 
us, so that I had now one on each 
side. They pressed me to go in to their 



My Capture. 35 



'* lodgings '' and enjoy a smoke and 
chat with them. I gently demurred, 
and we stopped on the pavement. A 
third Chinaman now appeared and my 
first acquaintance left us. The two 
who remained further pressed me to 
accompany them, and I was gradually, 
and in a seemingly friendly manner, led 
to the upper edge of the pavement, when 
the door of an adjacent house suddenly 
opened and I was half-jokingly and half- 
persistently compelled to enter by my 
companions, one on either side, who rein- 
forced their entreaties by a quasi-friendly 
push. Suspecting nothing, for I knew 
not what house I was entering, I only 
hesitated because of my desire to get to 
Mr. Cantlie's in time for church, and I 
felt I should be too late did I delay. 
However, in good faith I entered, and 
was not a little surprised when the front 
door was somewhat hurriedly closed and 
barred behind me. All at once it flashed 

3 * 



36 Kidnapped in London. 

upon me that the house must be the 
Chinese Legation, thereby accounting for 
the number of Chinamen in mandarin 
attire, and for the large size of the house ; 
while I also recollected that the Minister 
resided somewhere in the neighbourhood 
of Devonshire Street, near to which I 
must then be. 

1 was taken to a room on the ground 
floor whilst one or two men talked to me 
and to each other. I was then sent 
upstairs, two men, one on either side, 
conducting and partly forcing me to as- 
cend. I was next shown into a room on 
the second floor and told I was to remain 
there. This room, however, did not seem 
to satisfy my captors, as I was shortly 
afterwards taken to another on the third 
floor with a barred window looking out to 
the back of the house. Here an old 
gentleman with white hair and beard 
came into the room in rather a bumptious 
fashion and said : 



My Capture. 37 



^^ Here is China for you ; you are now 
in China." 

Sitting down, he proceeded to interro- 
gate me. 

Asked what my name was, I replied 
*^Sun." 

'^Your name," he repHed, ^4s Sun Wen; 
and we have a telegram from the Chinese 
Minister in America informing us that you 
were a passenger to this country by the 
s.s. Majestic ; and the Minister asks me to 
arrest you." 

** What does that mean ?" I enquired. 
• To which he replied : 

** You have previously sent in a petition 
for reform to the Tsung-Li-Yamen in 
Peking asking that it be presented to the 
Emperor. That may be considered a very 
good petition; but now the Tsung-Li- 
Yamen want you, and therefore you 
are detained here until we learn what 
the Emperor wishes us to do with 
you." 



38 Kidnapped in London. 

^^ Can I let my friend know I am here ? " 
I asked. 

^' No,'' he repHed ; ^^ but you can write 
to your lodging for your luggage to be 
sent you." 

On my expressing a wish to write to 
Dr. Manson, he provided me with pen, 
ink and paper. I wrote to Dr. Manson 
informing him that I was confined in 
the Chinese Legation, and asking him 
to tell Mr. Cantlie to get my baggage sent 
to me. The old gentleman, however, — 
whom I afterwards learned to be Sir 
Halliday Macartney, — objected to my 
using the word ** confined," and asked 
me to substitute another. Accordingly I 
wrote: *' I am in the Chinese Legation; 
please tell Mr. Cantlie to send my luggage 
here." 

He then said he did not want me to 
write to my friend, and asked me to write 
to my hotel. I informed him that I 
was not at a hotel, and that only Mr. 



My Capture. 39 



Cantlie knew where I was living. It was 
very evident my interrogator was playing 
a crafty game to get hold of my effects, 
and more especially my papers, in the 
hope of finding correspondence whereby 
to ascertain who my Chinese accompHces 
or correspondents were. I handed him 
the letter to Dr. Manson, which he read 
and returned, saying, '^That is all right." 
I put it in an envelope and gave it to Sir 
Halliday Macartney in all good faith that 
it would be delivered. 



CHAPTER III. 

MY IMPRISONMENT. 

SIR HALLIDAY then left the room, 
shut the door and locked it, and I was 
a prisoner under lock and key. Shortly 
afterwards I was disturbed by the sound 
of carpentry at the door of my room, and 
found that an additional lock was being 
fixed thereto. Outside the door was 
stationed a guard of never less than two 
people, one of whom was a European ; 
sometimes a third guard was added. 
During the first twenty-four hours the 
Chinese guards at the door frequently 
came in and spoke to me in their own 
dialect, which I understood fairly well. 
They did not give me any information as 
to my imprisonment — nor did I ask them 

40 



My Imprisonment. 41 

any questions — further than that the old 
gentleman who had locked me up was Sir 
Halliday Macartney, the Ma-Ta-Yen, 
as they called him : Ma standing for 
'^ Macartney/' Ta-Yen being the equiva- 
lent for *^ His Excellency." This is in 
the same category with the name under 
which the Chinese Minister passes here, 
Kung-Ta-Yen. Kung is his family name 
or surname; Ta-Yen indicates his title, 
meaning'^ His Excellency." Henevergives 
his real name in public matters, thereby 
compelHng every foreigner to uncon- 
sciously style him '* His Excellency." I 
often wonder if he deals with the British 
Government under this cognomen solely ; 
if he does, it is a disparagement and slight 
that is meant. Court and diplomatic 
etiquette in China is so nice, that the 
mere inflection of a syllable is quite enough 
to change the meaning of any communi- 
cation to the foreigner from a compliment 
to a slight. This is constantly striven 



42 Kidnapped in London. 

after in all dealings with foreigners, and it 
requires a very good knowledge of Chinese 
literature and culture indeed, to know that 
any message delivered to a foreigner does 
not leave the Chinese diplomatist hugging 
himself with delight at having insulted a 
foreigner of high rank, without his knowing 
it. To the people around him he thereby 
shows his own preeminence, and how the 
^* foreign devils '* — the Yang Quei Tze — 
are his inferiors. 

Several hours after my imprisonment, 
one of the guard came into my room and 
told me that Sir Halliday Macartney had 
ordered him to search me. He proceeded 
to take my keys, pencil and knife. He 
did not find my pocket in which I had a 
few bank notes ; but he took the few 
unimportant papers I had. They asked 
me what food I wanted, and at my request 
brought me some milk which I drank. 

During the day two English servants 
came to light the fire, bring coals and 



My Imprisonment. 43 

sweep the room. I asked the first who 
came to take a letter out for me, and 
being promised that this would be done, I 
wrote a note addressed to Mr. Cantlie, 46 
Devonshire Street, W. When the second 
servant came I did the same thing. I did 
not, of course, know till later what had 
happened to my letters, but both men 
said they had sent them. That (Sunday) 
evening an English woman came in to 
make up my bed. I did not address her 
at all. All that night I had no sleep, and 
lay with my clothes on. 

On the following day — Monday, 12th 
October — the two English servants came 
again to attend to the room, and brought 
coals, water and food. One said he had 
sent the note with which I had entrusted 
him, while the other. Cole, said he could 
not get out to do so. I suspected, how- 
ever, that my notes had never reached 
their destination. 

On Tuesday, the 13th, I again asked 



44 Kidnapped in London. 

the younger manservant — not Cole — if he 
had deHvered my letter and had seen Mr. 
Cantlie. He said he had ; but as I still 
doubted him, he swore he had seen Mr. 
Cantlie, who on receiving the note said, 
*^A11 right!" Having no more paper, I 
wrote with pencil on the corner of my 
handkerchief, and asked him to take it to 
my friend. At the same time I put a 
half-sovereign in his hand, and hoped for 
the best. I was dubious about his good 
faith, and I found that my suspicions were 
but too well-founded ; for I ascertained 
subsequently he went immediately to his 
employers and disclosed all. 

On the fourth day of my imprisonment 
Mr. Tang, as he is called, came to see 
me, and I recognised in him the man who 
had kidnapped me. He sat down and 
proceeded to converse with me. 

*' When I last saw you," he began, ''and 
took you in here, I did so as part of my 
official duty: I now come to talk with 



My Imprisonment. 45 

you as a friend. You had better confess 
that you are Sun Wen ; it is no use deny- 
ing it: everything is settled.'' In a vein 
of sarcastic-pseudo flattery he continued : 
**You are well known in China: the 
Emperor and the Tsung-Li-Yamen are 
well acquainted with your history ; it is 
surely worth your while dying with so 
distinguished a name as you have made 
for yourself upon you." (This is a species 
of Oriental flattery scarcely perhaps to be 
appreciated by Western minds ; but it is 
considered everything in China, how and 
under what name and reputation you die,) 
** Your being here," he proceeded, ''means 
life or death. Do you know that ? " 

'' How ? " I asked. '' This is England, 
not China. What do you propose to do 
with me ? If you wish extradition, you 
must let my imprisonment be known to 
the British Government ; and I do not 
think the Government of this country will 
give mc up." 



46 Kidnapped in London. 

'^ We are not going to ask legal extra- 
dition for you," he replied. *^ Everything 
is ready ; the steamer is engaged ; you are 
to be bound and gagged and taken from 
here, so that there will be no disturbance ; 
and you will be placed on board in safe 
keeping. Outside Hong Kong harbour 
there will be a Chinese gunboat to meet 
you, and you will be transferred to that 
and taken to Canton for trial and execu- 
tion." 

I pointed out that this would be a risky 
proceeding, as I might have the chance of 
communicating with the English on board 
on the way. This, however. Tang declared 
would be impossible, as, said he, *' You will 
be as carefully guarded as you are here, 
so that all possibility of escape will be cut 
off." I then suggested that the officers on 
board might not be of the same mind as 
my captors, and that some of them might 
sympathise with me and help me. 

**The steamboat company," replied 



My hnprisonment. 47 

Tang, '^are friends of Sir Halliday 
Macartney's and will do what they are 
told/' 

In reply to my questions he told me 
that I should be taken by one of the 
*' Glen '' Line of Steamers, but that my 
departure would not take place that week 
(this was October 14th), as the Minister 
was unwilling to go to the expense of 
exclusively chartering the steamer, and he 
wished to have the cargo shipped first, so 
that only the passenger tickets would 
have to be paid for. 

*^ Some time next week," he added, 
'* the cargo will be embarked and you will 
go then." 

On my remarking that this was a very 
difficult plan to put into execution, he 
merely said : 

*^ Were we afraid of that, we could kill 
you here, because this is China, and no 
one can interfere with us in the Legation." 

For my edification and consolation he 



48 Kidnapped in London. 

then quoted the case of a Korean patriot, 
who, escaping from Korea to Japan, was 
induced by a countryman of his to go to 
Shanghai, where he was put to death in 
the British concession. His dead body 
was sent back by the Chinese to Korea 
for punishment, and on arrival there it 
was decapitated, while the murderer was 
rewarded and given a high political post. 
Tang was evidently fondly cherishing the 
belief that he would be similarly promoted 
by his government for arresting me and 
securing my death. 

I asked him why he should be so cruel, 
to which he replied : 

^' This is by order of the Emperor, who 
wants you captured at any price, alive or 
dead." 

I urged that the Korean case was one 
of the causes of the Japanese war, and 
that my capture and execution might lead 
to further trouble and great compHcations. 

'*The British Government,'' I said, 



My Imprisonment. 49 

''may ask for the punishment of all the 
members of this Legation ; and, as you 
are a countryman of mine, my people in 
the province of Kwang-Tung may revenge 
themselves on you and your family for 
your treatment of me." 

He then changed his tone, desisted from 
his arrogant utterances, and remarked 
that all he was doing was by the direction 
of the Legation, and that he was merely 
warning me in a friendly way of my 
plight. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PLEADING WITH MY GAOLERS FOR LIFE. 

AT twelve o'clock the same night Tang 
returned to my room and re-opened 
the subject. I asked him, if he was really 
a friend of mine, what he could do to help 
me. 

*^That is what I came back for,'' he 
repHed, '* and I want to do all I can, and 
will let you out by-and-by. Meantime," 
he continued, '* I am getting the lock- 
smith to make two duplicate keys, one for 
your room and one for the front door.'' 

Tang had to take this step, he said, as 
the keys were kept by the confidential 
servant of the Minister, who would not 
part with them. 

To my inquiry as to when he could let 

50 



Pleading with My Gaolers for Life. 51 

me out, he stated that it would be impos- 
sible till the following day, and that he 
could probably manage it at two a.m. 
Friday morning. 

As he left the room he counselled me 
to be ready to get out on the Friday. 

After his departure I wrote down a few 
words on a paper to give to the servants 
to take to Mr. Cantlie. 

Next morning, Thursday, October 15th, 
I gave the note to the servant ; but, as 
Tang told me on the afternoon of that 
day, it was handed by the servant to the 
Legation authorities. 

Tang declared that by my action I had 
spoiled all his plans for rescuing me, and 
that Sir Halliday Macartney had scolded 
him very much for telling me how they 
intended to dispose of me. 

I thereupon asked him if there was any 
hope for my life, to which he replied : 

^' Yes, there is still great hope ; but you 
must do what I tell you.'' 

4* 



52 Kidnapped in London. 

He advised me to write to the Minister 
asking for mercy. This I agreed to do, 
and asked for pen, ink and paper. These 
Tang told Cole to bring me. 

I asked, however, that Chinese ink and 
paper should be supplied me, as I could 
not write to the Chinese Minister in 
English. 

To this Tang replied : 

^^Oh, English is best, for the Minister 
is but a figure-head ; everything is in 
Macartney's hands, and you had better 
write to him.'' 

When I asked what I should write, he 
said : 

'^You must deny that you had any- 
thing to do with the Canton plot, declare 
that you were wrongly accused by the 
mandarins, and that you came to the 
Legation to ask for redress." 

I wrote to his dictation a long letter to 
this effect in Tang's presence. 

Having addressed the folded paper to 



Pleading with My Gaolers for Life. 53 

Sir Halliday Macartney (whose name 
Tang spelt for me, as I did not know how) 
I handed it to Tang, who went off with it 
in his possession, and I never saw the 
intriguer again. 

This was no doubt a very stupid thing 
to have done, as I thereby furnished my 
enemies with documentary evidence that 
I had come voluntarily to the Legation. 
But as a dying man will clutch at any- 
thing, so I, in my strait, was easily im- 
posed upon. 

Tang had informed me that all my 
notes had been given up by the servants, 
so that none of them had reached my 
friends outside. I then lost all hope, and 
was persuaded that I was face to face with 
death. 

During the week I had written state- 
ments of my plight on any scraps of paper 
I could get and thrown them out of the 
window. I had at first given them to the 
servants to throw out, as my window did 



54 Kidnapped in London. 

not look out on the street ; but it was 
evident all of them had been retained. I 
therefore attempted to throw them out at 
my own window myself, and by a lucky 
shot one fell on the leads of the back 
premises of the next house. 

In order to make these missives travel 
further I weighted them with coppers, 
and, when these were exhausted, two- 
shilling pieces, which, in spite of the 
search, I had managed to retain on my 
person. When the note fell on the next 
house I was in hopes that the occupants 
might get it. One of the other notes, 
striking a rope, fell down immediately 
outside my window. I requested a 
servant — not Cole — to pick it up and 
give it me ; but instead of doing so he 
told the Chinese guards about it, and 
they picked it up. 

Whilst searching about, the letter on 
the leads of the next house caught their 
attention, and, climbing over, they got 



Pleading with My Gaolers for Life. 55 

possession of that also, so that I was 
bereft of that hope too. These notes 
they took to their masters. 

I was now in a worse plight than ever, 
for they screwed up my window, and my 
sole means of commmiication with the 
outside world seemed gone. 

My despair was complete, and only by 
prayer to God could I gain any comfort. 
Still the dreary days and still more dreary 
nights wore on, and but for the comfort 
afforded me by prayer I believe I should 
have gone mad. After my release I 
related to Mr. Cantlie how prayer was 
my one hope, and told him how I should 
never forget the feeling that seemed to 
take possession of me as I rose from my 
knees on the morning of Friday, October 
i6th — -a feeling of calmness, hopefulness 
and confidence, that assured me my 
prayer was heard, and filled me with 
hope that all would yet be well. I there- 
fore resolved to redouble my efforts, and 



56 Kidnapped in London. 

made a determined advance to Cole, 
beseeching him to help me. 

When he came in I asked him : '* Can 
you do anything for me ? " 

His reply was the question : ** What are 
you?'^ 

'* A political refugee from China/' I 
told him. 

As he did net seem to quite grasp my 
meaning, I asked him if he had heard 
much about the Armenians. He said he 
had, so I followed up this line by telling 
him that just as the Sultan of Turkey 
wished to kill all the Christians of 
Armenia, so the Emperor of China 
wished to kill me because I was a Chris- 
tian, and one of a party that was striving 
to secure good government for China. 

**A11 English people,'' I said, ** sym- 
pathise Vv^ith the Armenians, and I do 
not doubt they would have the same 
feeling towards me if they knew my con- 
dition." 



Pleading with My Gaoler s for Life. 57 

He remarked that he did not know 
whether the English Government would 
help me, but I replied that they would 
certainly do so, otherwise the Chinese 
Legation would not confine me so strictly, 
but would openly ask the British Govern- 
ment for my legal extradition. 

** My life,'' I said to him, ^^is in your 
hands. If you let the matter be known 
outside, I shall be saved ; if not, I shall 
certainly be executed. Is it good to save 
a life or to take it ? Whether is it more 
important to regard your duty to God or 
to your master ? — to honour the just 
British, or the corrupt Chinese, Govern- 
ment ? '' 

I pleaded with him to think over what 
I had said, and to give me an answer 
next time he came, and tell me truly 
whether he would help me or not. 

He went away, and I did not see him 
till next morning. It may well be imagined 
how eager I was to learn his decision. 



58 Kidnapped in London, 

While engaged putting coals on the fire 
he pointed to a paper he had placed in 
the coal scuttle. On the contents of that 
paper my life seemed to depend. Would 
it prove a messenger of hope, or would 
the door of hope again be shut in my face ? 
Immediately he left the room I picked it 
up and read : 

^^ I will try to take a letter to your friend. 
You must not write it at the table, as you 
can be seen through the keyhole, and the 
guards outside watch you constantly. You 
must write it on your bed." 

I then lay down on my bed, with my 
face to the wall, and wrote on a visiting 
card to Mr. Cantlie. At noon Cole came 
in again, and 1 pointed to where my note 
was. He went and picked it up, and I 
gave him all the money I had about me — 
/*2o. Mr. Cantlie's note in reply was 
placed by Cole behind the coal scuttle, 
and by a significant glance he indicated 
there was something there for me. When 



Pleading with My Gaolers for Life. 59 

he had gone I anxiously picked it up, and 
was overjoyed to read the words : ^' Cheer 
up ! The Government is working on your 
behalf, and you will be free in a few days.'' 
Then I knew God had answered my 
prayer. 

During all this time I had never taken 
off my clothes. Sleep came but seldom, 
only in snatches, and these very troubled. 
Not until I received my friend's cheering 
news did I get a semblance of real rest. 

My greatest dread was the evil that 
would befal the cause for which I had 
been fighting, and the consequences that 
would ensue were I taken to China and 
killed. Once the Chinese got me there, 
they would publish it abroad that I had 
been given up by the British Government 
in due legal fashion, and that there was 
no refuge in British territory for any of the 
other offenders. The members of ^^ the 
Party " will remember the part played by 
England in the Taiping rebellion, and 



6o Kidnapped in London. 

how by English interference that great 
national and Christian revolution was put 
down. Had I been taken to China to be 
executed, the people would have once 
more believed that the revolution was 
again being fought with the aid of 
Britain, and all hopes of success would 
be gone. 

Had the Chinese Legation got my 
papers from my lodgings, further compli- 
cations might have resulted to the detri- 
ment of many friends. This danger, it 
turned out, had been carefully guarded 
against by a thoughtful lady. Mrs. 
Cantlie, on her own responsibility, had 
gone to my lodgings, carefully collected 
my papers and correspondence, and within 
a few hours of her becoming acquainted 
with my imprisonment, there and then 
destroyed them. If some of my friends 
in various parts of the world have had no 
reply to their letters, they must blame 
this considerate lady for her wise and 



Pleading with My Gaolers for Life, 6i 

prompt action, and forgive my not having 
answered them, as I am minus their 
addresses, and in many cases do not even 
know their names. Should the Chinese 
authorities again entrap me, they will find 
no papers whereby my associates can be 
made known to them. 

I luckily did not think of poison in my 
food, but my state of mind was such that 
food was repulsive to me. I could only 
get down liquid nourishment, such as milk 
and tea, and occasionally an egg. Only 
when my friend's note reached me could 
I either eat or sleep. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PART MY FRIENDS PLAYED. 

OUTSIDE the Legation, I of course 
knew nothing of what was going on. 
All my appeals, all my winged scraps I 
had thrown out at the window, all my 
letters I had handed officially to Sir 
Halliday Macartney and Tang, I knew 
were useless, and worse than useless, for 
they but increased the closeness of my 
guard and rendered communication 
with my friends more and more an 
impossibility. 

However, my final appeal on Friday 
morning, October i6th, had made an 
impression, for it was after that date 
that Cole began to interest himself in my 
behalf. Cole's wife had a good deal to 

62 



The Part My Friends Played, 63 

do with the initiative, and it was Mrs. 
Cole who wrote a letter to Mr. Cantlie on 
Saturday, October 17th, 1896, and so set 
the machinery going. The note reached 
Devonshire Street at 11 p.m. Imagine 
the Doctor's feelings when he read the 
following : 

^' There is a friend of yours imprisoned 
in the Chinese Legation here since last 
Sunday. They intend sending him out 
to China, where it is certain they will 
hang him. It is very sad for the poor 
man, and unless something is done at 
once, he will be taken away and no one 
will know it. I dare not sign my name ; 
but this is the truth, so believe what I 
say. Whatever you do must be done at 
once, or it will be too late. His name is, 
I believe, Lin Yin Sen." 

No time was evidently to be lost. 
Late as it was, after ascertaining Sir 
Halliday Macartney's address, Mr. Cantlie 
set out to find him. He little knew that 



64 Kidnapped in London. 

he was going straight to the head centre 
of all this disgraceful proceeding. Luckily 
or unluckily for me, one will never know 
which, he found the house, 3 Harley Place, 
shut up. It was 1 1. 1 5 p.m. on Saturday 
night, and the policeman on duty in 
the Marylebone Road eyed him rather 
suspiciously as he emerged from the com- 
pound in which the house stands. The 
policeman said that the house was shut 
up for six months, the family having gone 
to the country. Mr. Cantlie asked how he 
knew all this, and the policeman retorted 
that there had been a burglary attempted 
three nights previously, which led to 
close enquiries who the tenants were ; 
therefore, the information he had, namely 
a six months' '^anticipated'* absence, 
was evidently definite and precise. Mr. 
Cantlie next drove to Marylebone Lane 
Police Office, and laid the matter before 
the Inspector on duty. He next went to 
Scotland Yard and asked to see the officer 



The Part My Friends Played. 65 

in charge. A Detective Inspector received 
him in a private room, and consented to 
take down his evidence. The difficulty 
was to get anyone to beheve so improbable 
a story. The Police authority politely 
listened to the extraordinary narrative, 
but declared that it was impossible for 
Scotland Yard to take the initiative, and 
Mr. Cantlie found himself in the street 
about I a.m., in no better plight than 
when he set out. 

Next morning Mr. Cantlie went to 
Kensington to consult with a friend as 
to whether or not there was any good in 
asking the head of the Chinese Customs 
in London to approach the Legation 
privately, and induce them to reconsider 
their imprudent action and ill-advised 
step. 

Not receiving encouragement in that 
direction, he went again to 3 Harley Place, 
in hopes that at least a caretaker would 
be in possession, and in a position to at 

5 



56 Kidnapped in London. 

least tell where Sir Halliday Macartney 
could be found or reached by telegram. 
Beyond the confirmation of the police- 
man's story that burglary had been 
attempted, by seeing the evidence of 
** jemmies'' used to break open the door, 
no clue could be found as to where this 
astute orientalised diplomatist was to be 
unearthed. 

Mr. Cantlie then proceeded to Dr. 
Manson's house, and there, at his front 
door, he saw a man who proved to be 
Cole, my attendant at the Legation. The 
poor man had at last summoned up courage 
to disclose the secret of my imprison- 
ment, and in fear and trembHng sought out 
Mr. Cantlie at his house; but being told 
he had gone to Dr. Manson's, he went on 
there and met both the doctors together. 
Cole then presented two cards I had 
addressed to Mr. Cantlie, stating : 

*^ I was kidnapped on Sunday last by 
two Chinamen, and forcibly taken into 



The Part My Friends Played. 67 

the Chinese Legation. I am imprisoned, 
and in a day or two I am to be shipped 
off to China, on board a specially- 
chartered vessel. I am certain to be 
beheaded. Oh ! woe is me." 

Dr. Manson heartily joined with his 
friend in his attempt to rescue me, 
and proceeded to interrogate Cole. Mr. 
Cantlie remarked : 

'^Oh, if Sir Halliday Macartney were 
only in town, it would be all right. It is 
a pity he is away; where can we find 
him?" 

Cole immediately retorted : 

*^ Sir Halliday is in town, he comes 
to the Legation every day ; it was Sir 
Halliday who locked Sun in his room, 
and placed me in charge, with directions 
to keep a strict guard over the door, that 
he should have no means of escape." 

This information was startling, and 
placed the difficulty of release on 
a still more precarious footing. The 

5 * 



68 Kidnapped in London. 

proceedings would have to be still more 
carefully undertaken, and the highest 
authorities would have to be called in, 
were these crafty and masterful men to 
be outwitted. 

Cole, in answer to further interroga- 
tions, said that it was given out in the 
Legation that I was a lunatic ; that I was 
to be removed to China on the following 
Tuesday (that was in two days more) ; 
that he did not know by what line of 
ships I was going, but a man of the name 
of McGregor, in the City, had something 
to do with it. It also came out that two 
or three men dressed as Chinese sailors 
had been to the Legation during the 
week, and Cole had no doubt their visit 
had something to do with my removal, as 
he had never seen men of that description 
in the house before. 

Cole left, taking a card with the names 
of my two friends upon it to deliver to 
me, in the hopes that its advent would 



The Part My Friends Played. 6g 

allay my fears, and serve as a guarantee 
that Cole was actually working on my 
behalf at last. The two doctors then set 
out to Scotland Yard to try the effects of 
a further appeal in that direction. The 
Inspector on duty remarked : ^' You were 
here at 12.30 a.m. this morning. I am 
afraid it is no use your coming here again 
so soon." The paramount difficulty was to 
know where to go to represent the fact that 
a man's life was in danger ; that the laws 
of the country were being outraged ; that 
a man was to be practically given over, 
in the Metropohs of the British Empire, 
to be murdered. 

On quitting the premises they took 
counsel together, and decided to invade 
the precincts of the Foreign Office. 
They were told the resident clerk would 
see them at five p.m. At that hour they 
were received, and delivered their romantic 
tale to the willing ears of the courteous 
official. Being Sunday^ of course nothing 



70 Kidnapped in London. 

further could be done, but they were told 
that the statement would be laid before 
a higher authority on the following day. 
But time was pressing, and what was to 
be done ? That night might see the 
tragedy completed and the prisoner re- 
moved on board a vessel bound for 
China. What was most dreaded was 
that a foreign ship would be selected ; 
and under a foreign flag the British 
authorities were powerless. The last 
hope was that, if I were removed before 
they succeeded in rousing the authorities 
and the vessel actually got away, that it 
might be stopped and searched in the 
Suez Canal ; but, were I shipped on 
board a vessel under a flag other than 
British, this hope would prove a delusion. 
With this dread upon them, they decided 
to take the decisive step of going to the 
Legation, and telHng the Chinese that 
they were acquainted with the fact that 
Sun was a prisoner in their hands, and 



The Part My Friends Played. 71 

that the British Government and the 
poUce knew of their intention to remove 
him to China for execution. Dr. Manson 
decided he should go alone, as Mr. 
Cantlie's name in connection with Sun's 
was well known at the Legation. 

Accordingly Dr. Manson called alone 
at 49 Portland Place. The powdered 
footman at the door was asked to call 
one of the English-speaking Chinamen. 
Presently the Chinese interpreter, my 
captor and tormentor. Tang himself, 
appeared. Dr. Manson said he wanted 
to see Sun Yat Sen. A puzzled expression 
fell o'er Tang's face, as though seeking 
to recall such a name. *^ Sun ! — Sun ! 
there is no such person here." Dr. 
Manson then proceeded to inform him 
that he was quite well aware that Sun 
was here ; that he wished to inform the 
Legation that the Foreign Office had 
been made cognisant of the fact ; and 
that Scotland Yard was posted in the 



72 Kidnapped in London. 

matter of Sun's detention. But a Chinese 
diplomatist is nothing if not a capable 
liar, and Tang's opportunity of lying 
must have satisfied even his Oriental 
liking for the role. With the semblance 
of truth in his every word and action, 
Tang assured his interrogator that the 
whole thing was nonsense, and that no 
such person was there. His openness 
and frankness partly shook Dr. Hanson's 
belief in my condition, and when he got 
back to Mr. Cantlie's he was so impressed 
with the apparent truthfulness of. Tang s 
statement, that he even suggested that 
the tale of my imprisonment might be a 
trick by myself to some end — he knew 
not what. Thus can my countrymen lie ; 
Tang even shook the behef of a man 
like Dr. Manson, who had Hved in China 
twenty-two years ; who spoke the Amoy 
dialect fluently ; and was thereby more 
intimately acquainted with the Chinese 
and their ways than nine-tenths of the 



The Part My Friends Played. 73 

people who visit the Far East. How- 
ever, he had to dismiss the thought, as 
no ulterior object could be seen in a trick 
of the kind. Tang is sure to rise high in 
the service of his country ; a liar like 
that is sure to get his reward amongst 
a governing class who exist and thrive 
upon it. 

It was seven o'clock on Sunday evening 
when the two doctors desisted from their 
labours, parted company, and considered 
they had done their duty. But they 
were still not satisfied that I was safe. 
The danger was that I might be removed 
that very night, especially since the 
Legation knew the British Government 
were now aware of the fact, and that 
if immediate embarkation were not pos- 
sible, a change of residence of their 
victim might be contemplated. This 
was a very probable step indeed, and, if 
it had been possible, there is no doubt it 
would have been accomplished. Luckily 



74 Kidnapped in London. 

for me, the Marquis Tseng, as he is called, 
had shortly before left London for China, 
and given up his residence. Had it not 
been so, it is quite possible the plan of 
removal to his house would have recom- 
mended itself to my clever countryman ; 
and when it was accomplished, they 
would have thrown themselves upon the 
confidence and good friendship of the 
British, and asked them to search the 
house. That ruse could not be carried 
out ; but the removal to the docks was 
quite feasible. It was expected I was to 
sail on Tuesday, and, as the ship must 
be now in dock, there was nothing more 
likely than that the 'Munatic" passenger 
should be taken on board at night, to 
escape the excitement and noise of the 
daily traffic in the streets. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SEARCH FOR A DETECTIVE. 

WITH all this in his mind Mr. Cantlie 
set forth again, this time to search 
out some means of having the Legation 
watched. He called at a friend's house 
and obtained the address of Slater's firm 
of private detectives in the City. Hither 
he went ; but Slater's office was closed. 

On Sunday it would seem no detectives 
are required. Can no trouble arise on 
Sunday in England ? It must be remem- 
bered that the division of the month is 
but an artificial and mundane convenience, 
and crime does not always accommodate 
itself to such vagaries of the calendar 
as the portioning the month into weeks. 
However, there was the hard fact, Slater's 

IS 



70 Kidnapped in London. 

office was shut, and neither shouting, bell- 
ringing, nor hard knocks could elicit any 
response from the granite buildings in 
Basinghall Street. 

A consultation in the street with a 
policeman and the friendly cabman, who 
was taken into the secret of my detention, 
ended in a call at the nearest poHce sta- 
tion. Here the tale had to be unfolded 
again, and all the doubts as to the doctor's 
soberness and sanity set at rest before 
anything further could be attempted. 

'* Where was the place V 

'' Portland Place, West.'' 

'* Oh ! it is no good coming here, you 
must go back to the West End ; we belong 
to the City police." 

To the doctor's mind neither eastern 
nor western police were of any avail. 

^* However," he persisted, '* could a 
detective not be obtained to watch the 
house ?" 

** No. It was out of the power of the 



The Search for a Detective, 77 

City police to interfere in the West End 
work.'' 

'^ Have you not some old police con- 
stable, a reserve man, who would be 
willing to earn a little money at a job of 
the kind ? '' Mr. Cantlie asked. 

*^ Well, there might be — let us see." 

And here a number of men fell good- 
naturedly to discussing whom they could 
recall to memory. Well, yes ; they thought 
So-and-so would do. 

- ' Where does he live ? " 

*^0h! he lives in Leytonstone. You 
could not get him to-night : this is Sun- 
day, you know." 

Sunday I should think it was, and my 
head in the balance. After a long dis- 
cussion a man's name was suggested, and 
they got rid of the persistent doctor. The 
man's address was Gibston Square, Isling- 
ton. 

But before starting thence, Mr. Cantlie 
thought he would give the newspapers 



78 Kidnapped in London. 

the whole tale, so he drove to the Times 
Office and asked for the sub-editor. A 
card to fill in was handed him as to the 
nature of his business ; and he wrote : 

^^ Case of Kidnapping at the Chinese 
Legation ! '' 

This was 9 p.m., and he was told no 
one would be in until 10 p.m. 

Away then he went to Islington in search 
of his ^^ man." After a time the darkly-lit 
square was found, and the number proving 
correct, the abode was entered. But again 
disappointment followed; for *^he could 
not go, but he thought he knew a man that 
would.'' Well, there was no help for it ; 
but where did this man live ? He was a 
wonderful chap ; but the card bearing his 
address could not be found. High and 
low was it looked for : drawers and boxes, 
old packets of letters and unused waist- 
coats were searched and turned out. At 
last, however, it was unearthed, and then 
it was known that the man was not at 



The Search for a Detective. 79 

home, but was watching a public-house in 
the City. 

Well, even this was overcome, for the 
Doctor suggested that one of the numerous 
children that crowded the parlour should 
be sent with a note to the home address 
of the detective, whilst the father of the 
flock should accompany the Doctor to the 
City in search of the watcher. At last 
the hansom cab drew up at a little 
distance from a public-house, somewhere 
in the neighbourhood of the Barbican, 
and the place was reconnoitred. But no 
watcher could be seen around, and a 
futile search was settled in this way : that 
the pubhc-house should be watched until 
eleven o'clock, when the house closed, at 
which time in all probability the ^^ man " 
would be forthcoming. Mr. Cantlie left 
his erstwhile friend outside the house 
and set off again for the Times Office. 
There he was received in ^' audience '' 
and his statement was taken down, and 



8o Kidnapped in London. 

the publication of the tale was left to the 
Times' discretion. By this time it was 
11.30 p.m. on Sunday, and at last the 
restless Doctor sought his home. He was 
somewhat chagrined to find that at 12 
midnight his expected detective had not 
yet appeared, but, nothing daunted, he 
prepared to keep watch himself. He said 
good-night to his wife, and set out to 
observe the Legation, ready to interfere 
actively if need be. 

However, as he strode forth with 
valiant intent, the Doctor encountered his 
expected ^^man'' in the street, and im- 
mediately posted him. His Gibston 
Square friend had proved himself reliable 
and sent his deputy. The windows of 
the Legation, late as it was, — past twelve 
at night, — were still lit up, indicating a 
commotion within, the result, no doubt, 
of Dr. Hanson's intimation that their 
evil ways were no longer unknown. The 
'^man" was placed in a hansom cab in 



The Search for a Detective, 8i 

Weymouth Street, under the shadow of 
a house on the south side of the street, 
between Portland Place and Portland 
Road. It was a beautiful moonlight night, 
and both the Legation entrances could 
be clearly seen. The hansom cab was 
a necessary part of the sentinel on duty, 
as, supposing I had been hurried from 
the house across the pavement and into 
a carriage, I should have been carried 
beyond the reach of a person on foot in 
a few minutes. Cabs cannot be had at 
any moment in the early morning hours ; 
hence the necessary precaution of having 
the watchman in a position by which he 
could follow in pursuit, if he were required 
so to do. The newspapers had it, that 
the cab was intended to carry me off when 
the rescue party had freed me, but this 
is another part of the story which I will 
relate later on. 

At 2 a.m. the Doctor got to bed, and 
having informed the Government, told 



82 Kidnapped in London. 

the police, given the tale to the news- 
papers, posted private detectives for the 
night, his day's work was finished and 
practically my life was saved, although I 
did not know it. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE GOVERNMENT INTERVENE. 

ON Monday, October 19th, Slater's 
office was again asked for detectives, 
and, when they came, they were posted 
with instructions to watch the Legation 
night and day. 

At 12 noon J by appointment at the 
Foreign Office, Mr. CantHe submitted his 
statement in writing. The Foreign Office 
were evidently anxious that some less 
official plan of release should be effected 
than by their active interference, in the 
hopes that international complications 
might be averted. 

Moreover, the proofs of my detention 
were mere hearsay, and it was unwise to 

raise a question which seemed to be 

6 * 
83 



84 Kidnapped in London. 

founded on an improbable statement. 
As a step in the evidence, enquiry was 
made at the ^^Glen" Line Office, and 
when it was found that a passage had 
been asked for, the Government then 
knew by direct evidence that the tale was 
not only true, but that actual steps for 
its execution had been carefully laid. 
From this moment the affair passed into 
Government hands, and my friends were 
relieved of their responsibility. 

Six detectives were told off by Govern- 
ment for duty outside the Legation, and 
the police in the neighbourhood were 
made cognisant of the facts and apprised 
to be vigilant. 

The police had, moreover, my photo- 
graph, which I had had taken in America 
in my European dress. To the eye of the 
foreigner, who has not travelled in China, 
all Chinese are alike, so that an ordinary 
photograph was not likely to be of much 
assistance ; but in this photograph I wore 



The Government Intervene, 85 

a moustache and had my hair ^' European 
fashion." 

No Chinaman wears a moustache until 
he has attained the '^rank'' of grand- 
father; but even in the country of early 
marriages, I, who have not yet attained 
the age of thirty, can scarcely aspire to 
the ^'distinction." 

On Thursday^ October 22nd ^ a writ of 
Habeas Corpus was made out against either 
the Legation or Sir HalHday Macartney, 
I know not which, but the Judge at the 
Old Bailey would not agree to the action, 
and it fell through. 

On the afternoon of the same day a 
special correspondent of the Globe called 
at Mr. Cantlie's house and asked him if 
he knew anything about a Chinaman 
that had been kidnapped by the Chinese 
Legation. Well, he thought he did ; 
what did the Globe know about it ? The 
Doctor said he had given the information 
to the Times on Sunday, October i8th, 



86 Kidnapped in London. 

five days before, and further supple- 
mented it by additional information on 
Monday, October 19th, and that he felt 
bound to let the Times make it public 
first. However, Mr. Cantlie said, '^ Read 
over what you have written about the 
circumstance, and I will tell you if it is 
correct.'' The information the Globe had 
received proving correct, the Doctor en- 
dorsed it, but requested his name not to 
be mentioned. 

Of course many persons were acquainted 
with the circumstances long before they 
appeared in print. Some two or three 
hundred people knew of my imprisonment 
by Tuesday morning, and it was a wonder 
that the ever eager correspondents did 
not know of it before Thursday afternoon. 
However, once it got wind there was no 
hushing the matter up, for from the 
moment the Globe published the starthng 
news, there was no more peace at 46 
Devonshire Street, W. 



The Government Intervene. 87 

Within two hours after the issue of the 
fifth edition of the Globe, Mr. Cantlie was 
interviewed by a Central News and a 
Daily Mail reporter. He was too reticent 
to please them, but the main outlines 
were extracted from him. 

The two searchers after truth next 
called at the Chinese Legation and asked 
to see Sun. They were met by the ever- 
ready and omnipresent Tang, who denied 
all knowledge of such a man. Tang was 
shown the report in the Globe, at which 
he laughed merrily and said the whole 
thing was a huge imposition. The Cen- 
tral News reporter, however, said it was 
no good denying it, and that if Sun was 
not given up, he might expect 10,000 
men here to-morrow to pull the place 
about his ears. Nothing, however, 
moved Tang, and he lied harder than 
ever. 

Sir Halliday Macartney was next un- 
earthed at the Midland Hotel and inter- 



88 Kidnapped in London. 

viewed. His statements are best gathered 
from the Press reports. 

INTEHVIEWS WITH SIR HALLIDAY MACARTNEY. 

Sir Halliday Macartney, Counsellor of the 
Chinese Legation, visited the Foreign OfSce at 
3.30 yesterday afternoon. In conversation with a 
press representative. Sir Halliday said: I am 
unable to give you any information about the man 
detained at the Legation, beyond what has already 
appeared in print. On being informed that the 
Foreign Office had just issued an announcement 
to the effect that Lord Salisbury had requested 
the Chinese Minister to release the prisoner. Sir 
Halliday admitted that this was so, and in answer 
to a further question as to what would be the 
result of the request, replied : ** The man will be 
released, but this will be done strictly without 
prejudice to the rights of the Legation involved." 

In course of a later conversation with a repre- 
sentative of the press, Sir Halliday Macartney 
said : Sun Yat Sen is not the name of the man 
whom we have in detention upstairs. We have 
no doubt of his real identity, and have been from 
time to time fully informed of all his movements 
since he set foot in England. He came of his own 
free will to the Legation, and was certainly not 
kidnapped or forced or inveigled into the premises. 
It is quite a usual thing for solitary Chinamen in 
London to call here to make casual inquiries, or 



The Government Intervene. 8g 

to have a chat with a countryman. There appears, 
moreover, to be some ground for suspecting that 
this peculiar visitor, beheving himself unknown, 
came with some idea of spying on us and getting 
some information. Nobody knew him by sight. 
When he called he got into conversation with one 
of our staff, and was afterwards introduced to me. 
We chatted for awhile, and some remarks he made 
led me after he had gone to suspect he might be 
the person we were having watched. These sus- 
picions being confirmed, he was, on returning the 
following da}', detained, and he is still under 
detention pending instructions from the Chinese 
Government. 

Speaking on the international side of the matter. 
Sir Halliday said : The man is not a British, but 
a Chinese, subject. We contend that for certain 
purposes the Legation is Chinese territory, where 
the Chinese Minister alone has jurisdiction. If a 
Chinaman comes here voluntarily, and if there are 
charges or suspicions against him, we contend 
that no one outside has any right to interfere with 
his detention. It would be quite different if he 
were outside this building, for then he would be 
on British territory, and we could not arrest him 
without a warrant. 

Answering further questions. Sir Halliday men- 
tioned that the man was not treated like a prisoner, 
and every consideration had been paid to his 
comfort. Sir Halliday ridiculed the statement 
which has appeared that the captive might be 



QO . Kidnapped in London. 

subjected to torture or undue pressure. He added 
a statement that a letter of inquiry had been 
received from the Foreign Office on the subject, 
which would receive immediate attention. 

The Central News says : Sir Halliday Macart- 
ney, on his return to the Chinese Legation from 
the Foreign Office, proceeded to the bedside of the 
Minister Kung Ta Jen, and explained to him that 
Lord Salisbury had insisted upon the release of 
Sun Yat Sen. 

It is not for me to discuss the behaviour 
of Sir HaUiday Macartney ; I leave that 
to pubHc opinion and to hisovs^n conscience. 
In his own mind, I have no doubt, he has 
reasons for his action ; but they seem 
scarcely consistent v^ith those of a sane 
man, let alone the importance of the 
position he occupies. I expect Tang 
expressed the position pretty exactly 
when he told me that ^^ the Minister is 
but a figure-head here. Macartney is the 
ruler.'' 

Various reports of an intended rescue 
crept into the newspapers. The follow- 
ing is an example : 



The Government Intervene. 91 



AN INTENDED EESCUE. 

In reference to the arrest of Sun Yat Sen, it has 
been ascertained that his friends had arranged a 
bold scheme to bring about his rescue. Had they 
not been definitely assured by the Foreign Office 
and Scotland Yard that no harm whatever should 
come to him, his rescue was to be effected by 
means of breaking the window of his room, and 
descending from the roof of No. 51 Portland Place, 
the residence of Viscount Powerscourt. His 
friends had succeeded in informing him of the plan 
they intended to pursue, and although information 
which was subsequently obtained pointed to the 
fact that Sun Yat Sen was being kept handcuffed, 
a promise of inside assistance in opening the win- 
dow satisfied his friends of the feasibility of the 
plan. Indeed, so far matured was the scheme, 
that a cab was held in waiting to convey Sun Yat 
Sen to the home of a friend. By the prisoner's 
friends it is declared that Long, the interpreter at 
the Legation, was one of the Chinamen who 
actually decoyed Sun into the Legation, though 
he was invariably the most positive subsequently 
in denying that such a man had ever been inside 
the Legation walls. His friends declare that Sun 
was dressed in English clothes, and so far from 
his being a typical Oriental, when dressed accord- 
ing to Western fashion was invariably taken for 
an Englishman. He is declared to be a man of 
unbounded good nature and of the gentlest dispo- 



92 Kidnapped in London, 

sition in Hongkong, and the various places where 
he practised medicine he obtained a reputation for 
skill and benevolence towards the poor. He is 
believed to have been in a great extent the tool 
of the Canton conspirators, though he never 
hesitated to condemn the cruel and oppressive 
Government of the Viceroy of Canton. He is 
said to have journeyed throughout Canton in 
the interests of his society, and the plot itself 
is declared to be the most widespread and for- 
midable since the present Emperor commenced 
to reign. 

The real facts are these. Cole sent the 
following communication to ^Ir. Cantlie 
on October igth, 1896: ^- I shall have a 
good opportunity to let Mr. Sun out on to 
the roof of the next house in Portland 
Place to-night. If you think it advisable, 
get permission from the occupants of the 
house to have someone waiting there to 
receive him. If I am to do it, find means 
to let me know.'^ Mr. Cantlie went with 
this letter to Scotland Yard and requested 
that a constable be posted with himself on 
the roof of the house in question ; but the 



I 



The Government Intervene. 93 

Scotland Yard authorities, thinking it was 
an undignified proceeding, dissuaded him 
from his purpose, and gave it as their 
firm conviction that I should walk out by 
the front door in a day or two. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



RELEASED, 



ON October 22nd Cole directed my 
attention to the coal scuttle, and 
when he left the room I picked up a 
clipping from a newspaper, which proved 
to be the Globe. There I read the 
account of my detention, under the head- 
ing : ^' Startling Story ! Conspirator Kid- 
napped in London! Imprisonment at the 
Chinese Embassy ! " And then followed a 
long and detailed account of my position. 
At last the Press had interfered, and I 
felt that I was really safe. It came as a 
reprieve to a condemned man, and my 
heart was full of thankfulness. 

Friday, October 23rd, dawned, and the 
day wore on, and still I was in durance. 

94 



Released. 95 



At 4.30 p.m., however, on that day, my 
Enghsh and Chinese guards came into 
the room and said ^^ Macartney wants 
to see you downstairs." I was told to 
put on my boots and hat and overcoat. 
I accordingly did so, not knowing whither 
I was going. I descended the stairs, and as 
it was to the basement I was being con- 
ducted, I believed I was to be hidden in 
a cellar whilst the house was being searched 
by the command of the British Govern- 
ment. I was not told I was to be released, 
and I thought I was to enter another place 
of imprisonment or punishment. It seemed 
too good to be true that I was actually to 
be released. However, Mr. Cantlie pre- 
sently appeared on the scene in company 
with two other men, who turned out to be 
Inspector Jarvis from Scotland Yard, and 
an old man, the messenger from the 
Foreign Office. 

Sir Halliday Macartney then, in the 
presence of these gentlemen, handed 



96 Kidnapped in London. 

me over the various effects that had 
been taken from me, and addressed the 
Government officials to the following 
effect : — 

'^ I hand this man over to you, and I do 
so on condition that neither the preroga- 
tive nor the diplomatic rights of the 
Legation are interfered with," or words to 
that effect. I was too excited to commit 
them to memory, but they seemed to me 
then, as they do now, senseless and 
childish. 

The meeting related above took place in 
a passage in the basement of the house, 
and I was told I was a free man. Sir 
Halliday then shook hands with us all, 
a post -Judas salutation, and we were 
shown out by a side-door leading to the 
area. From thence we ascended the area 
steps, and issued into Weymouth Street 
from the back door of the Legation. 

It will perhaps escape observation and 
pass out of mind as but a minor circum- 



i 



Released. 0,7 



stance that we were sent out by the back 
door of the Legation. 

The fact of the rescue was the all im- 
portant measure in the minds of the little 
group of Enghshmen present ; not so, 
however, with my astute countryman ; 
not so especially with Sir Halliday 
Macartney, that embodiment of retrograde 
orientalism. 

The fact that the representatives of the 
British Government were shown out by 
the back door, as common carrion, will 
redound to the credit of the Minister and 
his clientelle in the high courts of their 
country. It was intended as a slight and 
insult, and it was carried out as only one 
versed in the Chinese methods of dealing 
with foreigners can appreciate. The 
excuse, no doubt, was that the hall was 
crowded with reporters ; that a consider- 
able throng of people had assembled in 
the street outside the building; that the 
Foreign Office was anxious that the affair 

7 



g8 Kidnapped m London, 

should be conducted quietly without 
demonstration. These, no doubt, were 
the reasons present in the ever-ready 
minds of these Manchurian rapscallions 
and their caretaker Macartney. 

To EngHsh ways of looking at things, 
the fact of my release was all that was 
cared for ; but to the Chinese the manner 
of the release wiped out all the triumph 
of British diplomacy in obtaining it. Both 
had their triumph, and no doubt it brought 
them equal gratification. 

It was not an imposing party that 
proceeded to the Chinese Legation that 
Friday afternoon in October ; but one 
member of it, the venerable old messenger 
from the Foreign Office, had a small 
note concealed in the depths of his 
great-coat pocket that seemed to bear 
great weight. It must have been short 
andrto the| point, for it took Macartney 
but two or three seconds to master its 
contents. Short it may have been, but it 



Released. 



bore the sweet message of freedom for m^e, 
and an escape from death, and what I 
dreaded more, the customary exquisite 
tbrture to which pohtical prisoners in 
China are submitted to procure confession 
of the names of accomphces. 

In Weymouth Street a considerable 
crowd had assembled, and the ever- 
present newspaper reporter tried to in- 
veigle me there and then into a confession. 
I was, however, speedily put into a four- 
wheeled cab, and, in company with Mr. 
Cantlie, Inspector Jarvis, and the mes- 
senger, driven off towards Scotland Yard. 
On the way thither Inspector Jarvis 
gravely lectured me on my delinquencies, 
and scolded me as a bad boy, and advised 
me to have nothing to do any more 
with revolutions. Instead of stopping at 
Scotland Yard, however, the cab drew up 
at the door of a restaurant in Whitehall, 
and we got out on the pavement. Im- 
mediately the newspaper men surrounded 



100 Kidnapped in London, 

me ; where they came from I could not 
tell. We had left them a mile away in 
Portland Place, and here they were again 
the moment my cab stopped. There is 
no repressing them ; one man had ac- 
tually, unknown to us, climbed up on the 
seat beside the driver. He it was that 
stayed the cab at the restaurant, knowing 
well that if once I was within the precincts 
of Scotland Yard they could not get at 
me for some time. Unless the others — 
some dozen in number — were on the roof 
of my cab, I cannot understand where 
they sprang from. I was hustled from 
the pavement into the back premises of 
the hostelry with much more violence than 
ever was expended upon me when origin- 
ally taken within the Chinese Legation, 
and surrounded by a crowd thirsting for 
knowledge as eagerly as my countrymen 
thirsted for my head. Pencils .executed 
wonderful hieroglyphics which I had never 
seen before, and I did not know until that 



Released. loi 



moment that English could be written in 
what seemed to me cuneiform characters. 
I found out afterwards it was in shorthand 
they were writing. 

I spoke until I could speak no more, 
and it was only when Mr. Cantlie called 
out ^^Time, gentlemen!" that I was 
forcibly rescued from their midst and 
carried off to Scotland Yard. At the 
Yard I was evidently regarded as a child 
of their own delivery, and Jarvis's honest 
face was a picture to behold. However, 
the difficult labour was over, and here I 
was free to make my own confession. I 
was detained there for an hour, during 
which time I made a full statement of the 
circumstances of my capture and deten- 
tion. This was all taken down and read 
over to me, and I appended my signature 
and bade a cordial adieu to my friends in 
the police force. Mr. Cantlie and myself 
then hied ourselves homewards, where a 
hospitable welcome was accorded me, and 



I02 Kidnapped in London. 

over an appetising dinner, a toast to my 
*' head " was drunk with enthusiasm. 

During the evening I was frequently- 
interviewed, and it was not until a late 
hour that I was allowed to rest. Oh ! 
that first night's sleep ! Shall I ever 
forget it? For nine hours did it last, and 
when I awoke it was to the noise of 
children romping on the floor above me. 
It was evident by their loud, penetrating 
voices some excitement was on hand, and 
as I listened I could hear the cause of it. 
'^Now, Colin, you be Sun Yat Sen, and 
Neil will be Sir Halliday Macartney, 
and I will rescue Sun.'' Then followed a 
turmoil ; Sir Halliday was knocked end- 
ways, and a crash on the floor made me 
believe that my little friend Neil was no 
more. Sun was brought out in triumph 
by Keith, the eldest boy, and a general 
amnesty was declared by the beating of 
drums, the piercing notes of a tin whistle, 
and the singing of "^The British Grena- 



Released. 103 



diers." This was home and safety, 
indeed ; for it was evident my youthful 
friends were prepared to shed the last 
drop of their blood on my behalf. 

During Saturday, October 24th, I was 
interviewing all day. The one question 
put was, *' How did you let the doctors 
know ? " and the same question was 
addressed to Mr. Cantlie many scores of 
times. We felt, however, that our tongues 
were tied ; as, by answering the query, we 
should be incriminating those who, within 
the Legation walls, had acted as my 
friends, and they would lose their positions. 
However, when Cole resolved to resign 
his appointment, so that none of the 
others should be wrongly suspected, there 
was no object in hiding who had been the 
informant. It is all very well to say that 
I bribed him ; that is not the case. He 
did not understand that I gave him the 
money by way of fee at all ; he believed I 
gave it him to keep for me ; he told Mr. 



104 Kidnapped in London. 

Cantlie he had the ;^20 the day he got it, 
and offered to give it to him for safe 
keeping. When I came out Cole handed 
the money back to me, but it was the 
least I could do to urge him to keep it. I 
wish it had been more, but it was all the 
ready money I had. Cole had many 
frights during this time, but perhaps the 
worst scare he got was at the very first 
start. On the Sunday afternoon, October 
1 8th, when he had made up his mind to 
help me practically, he took my notes 
to Mr. Cantlie, in his pocket, at 46 
Devonshire Street. The door was opened 
and he was admitted within the hall. 
The doctor was not at home, so he asked 
to see his wife. Whilst the servant was 
gone to fetch her mistress, Cole became 
conscious of the presence of a Chinaman 
watching him from the far end of the hall. 
He immediately suspected that he had 
been followed or rather anticipated, for 
here was a Chinaman, pigtail and all. 



Released. 105 



earnestly scrutinising him from a recess. 
When Mrs. Canthe came down she beheld 
a man, trembling with fear and pale from 
terror, who could hardly speak. The 
cause of this alarm was a model of a 
Chinaman, of most life-like appearance, 
which Mr. Cantlie had brought home with 
him amongst his curios from Hong Kong. 
It has frightened many other visitors with 
less tender consciences than Cole's, whose 
overwrought nerves actually endowed the 
figure with a halo of terrible reality. 
Mrs. Cantlie relieved Cole's mind from 
his fear and sent him in to find her 
husband at Dr. Manson's. My part of 
the tale is nearly ended ; what further 
complications in connection with this affair 
may arise I cannot say. There is not 
time, as yet, to hear how the papers in 
other English-speaking countries will deal 
with the subject, and as ParHament has 
not yet assembled I cannot say what 
questions appertaining to the event may 



io6 Kidnapped in London. 

be forthcoming. I have, however, found 
many friends since my release. I have 
paid several pleasant visits to the country. 
I have been dined and feasted, and run a 
good chance of being permanently spoiled 
by my well-wishers in and around London. 



Hppenbiy* 



I APPEND a few of the numerous 
articles called forth by my arrest. 
The first is a letter from Professor 
Holland to The Times ^ and is headed : 

THE CASE OF SITN YAT SEN. 
To the Editor of The Times. 

Sir, — The questions raised by the imprisonment 
of Sun Yat Sen are two in number. First, was 
the act of the Chinese Minister in detaining him 
an unlawful act ? And secondly, if so, what steps 
could properly have been taken to obtain his release 
had it been refused ? 

The reply to the former question is not far to 
seek. The claim of an Ambassador to exercise 
any sort of domestic jurisdiction, even over mem- 
bers of his suite, is now little heard of, although, 
in 1603, Sully, when French Ambassador, went so 
far as to sentence one of his attaches to death, 



107 



io8 Kidnapped in London. 

handing him over to the Lord Mayor for execution. 
I can recall but one instance of an attempt on the 
part of a Minister to exercise constraint against a 
person unconnected with his mission. In 1642, 
Leitao, Portuguese Minister at the Hague, de- 
tained in his house a horse-dealer who had cheated 
him. The result was a riot, in which the hotel 
was plundered, and Wicquefort remarks upon the 
transaction that Leitao, who had given public 
lectures on the Law of Nations, ought to have 
known qii'il ne ltd estoit pas permis de faive line prison 
de sa maison. Sun Yat Sen, while on British soil 
as a siihdiUis femporarius, was under the protection 
of our Laws, and his confinement in the Chinese 
Legation was a high offence against the rights of 
the British Crown. 

The second question, though not so simple, 
presents no serious difficulty. A refusal on the 
part of the Chinese Minister to release his prisoner 
would have been a sufficient ground for requesting 
him to leave the country. If this mode of pro- 
ceeding would have been too dilatory for the 
exigencies of the case, it can hardly be doubted 
that the circumstances would have justified an 
entry upon the Legation premises by the London 
police. An Ambassador's hotel is said to be 
" extra-territorial," but this too compendious 
phrase means no more than that the hotel is for 
certain purposes inaccessible to the ordinary juris- 
diction of the country in which it stands. The 
exemptions thus enjoyed are, hov;ever, strictly 



Appendix. 109 



defined by usage, and new exemptions cannot be 
deduced from a metaphor. The case of Gyllen- 
burg, in 171 7, showed that if a Minister is suspected 
of conspiring against the Government to which he 
is accredited he may be arrested and his cabinets 
may be ransacked. The case of the coachman 
of Mr. Gallatin, in 1827, establishes that, after 
courteous notice, the police may enter a Legation 
in order to take into custody one of its servants 
who has been guilty of an offence elsewhere. 
There is also a general agreement that, except 
possibly in Spain and in the South American 
Republics, the hotel is no longer an asylum for 
even political offenders. Still less can it be sup- 
posed that an illegal imprisonment in a Minister's 
residence will not be put an end to by such action 
of the local police as may be necessary. 

It seems needless to inquire into the responsi- 
bility which would rest upon the Chinese autho- 
rities if Sun Yat Sen was, as he alleges, kidnapped 
in the open street, or would have rested upon them 
had they removed him through the streets, with a 
view to shipping him off to China. Acts of this 
kind find no defenders. What is admitted to have 
occurred is sufficiently serious, and was doubtless 
due to excess of zeal on the part of the subordi- 
nates of the Chinese Legation. International law 
has long been ably taught by Dr. Martin at the 
Tung-wen College of Peking, and the Imperial 
Government cannot be supposed to be indifferent 
to a strict conformity to the precepts of the 



no Kidnapped in London, 

science on the part of its representatives at foreign 
Courts. 

I am, Sir, j^our obedient servant, 

T. E. Holland. , 
Oxford, October 24th, 

Another legal opinion is referred to 
below : 

LEGAL OPINION. 

Mr. Cavendish, one of the best authorities on 
the law of extradition, informed an interviewer at 
Bow Street yesterday that, speaking from memory, 
he could cite no case at all parallel with the case 
of Sun Yat Sen. The case of the Zanzibar Pre- 
tender was, of course, in no way parallel, for he 
took refuge in the German Consulate. He threw 
himself on the hospitality of the German Govern- 
ment, which, following the procedure sanctioned 
by International Law, refuses to give him up, 
and conveyed him to German territory on the 
mainland. Sun Yat Sen's case was that of an 
alleged Chinese subject, having come within the 
walls of the Legation of his own country, was 
arrested by representatives of his own Govern- 
ment for an offence against that Government. 
Mr. Cavendish assumed that if the facts were as 
stated, the case could only be dealt with by diplo- 
matic representation on the part of our Foreign 
Office, and not by any known legal rule. 



Appendix, iii 



The next is a letter from Mr. James G. 
Wood to the same paper discussirxg some 
of the points of law raised in Professor 
Holland's letter : 

To the Editor of The Times. 

Sir, — The second question proposed by Pro- 
fessor Holland, though fortunately, under the 
circumstances, not of present importance, is 
deserving of careful consideration. I venture to 
think his answer to it unsatisfactory. 

It is suggested that on a refusal by the Chinese 
Minister to release his prisoner, ** it can hardly be 
doubted that the circumstances would have justi- 
fied an entry on the Legation premises by the 
London police." But why there should not be 
such a doubt is not explained. This is not solving 
the question but guessing at its solution. The 
London police have no roving commission to 
release persons unlawfully detained in London 
houses ; and anyone attempting to enter for 
such a purpose could be lawfully resisted by 
force. 

The only process known to the law as applicable 
to a case of unlawful detention is a writ of habeas 
corpus^ and this is where the real difficulty lies. 
Could such a writ be addressed to an Ambassador 
or any member of the Legation ? Or if it were, 
and it were disregarded, could process of contempt 



112 Kidnapped in London. 

follow ? I venture to think not ; and I know of 
no precedent for such proceeding. 

I agree that the phrase that an Ambassador's 
hotel is extra-territorial is so metaphysical as to 
be misleading. It is, in fact, inaccurate. The 
more careful writers do not use it. The true 
proposition is not that the residence is extra- 
territorial in the sense in which a ship is often 
said to be so, but the Minister himself is deemed 
to be so ; and as a consequence he and the 
members of his family and suite are said to enjoy 
a complete immunity from all civil process. It is 
not a question of what may or may not be done in 
the residence, but what may or may not be done 
to individuals. That being so, the process I have 
mentioned appears to involve a breach of the 
comity of nations. 

To adduce cases where the police have under a 
warrant entered an Embassy to arrest persons 
who have committed an offence elsewhere to 
found the proposition that **the local police may 
take action to put an end to an illegal imprison- 
ment," begun and continued within the Embassy, 
does not land us on safe ground. There is no 
common feature in the two cases. 

I am. Sir, your obedient servant, 

James G. Wood. 

October 27th. 



Appendix. 113 



THE SUPPOSED CHINESE REVOLUTIONIST. 

[From the China Mail, Hong Kong, Dec. 3rd, 1896,] 

Sun Yat Sen, who has recently been in trouble 
in London through the Chinese Minister attempt- 
ing to kidnap him for execution as a rebel, is not 
unlikely to become a prominent character in his- 
tory. Of course, it would not be right to state, 
until a duly constituted court of law has found, 
that a man is definitely connected with any illegal 
movement, or that any movement with which he 
is connected is definitely anti-dynastic. The only 
suggestion of Dr. Sun Yat Sen being a rebel in 
any sense comes from the Chinese Legation in 
London and the officials of Canton. But without 
any injury to him it may be safely said that he is 
a remarkable man, with most enlightened views 
on the undoubtedly miserable state of China's 
millions, and that there are many Chinese who 
feel very strongly on the subject and try now and 
then to act very strongly. The allegation of the 
officials is that these people tried to accomplish a 
revolution in October, 1895, and that Sun Yat Sen 
was a leader in the conspiracy. Foreigners, even 
those resident in the Far East, had little know- 
ledge how near the long-expected break-up of China 
then was. As it happened, the outbreak missed 
fire, and what little attention it did attract was of 
the contemptuous sort. The situation was, how- 
ever, one of as great danger as any since the Tai 
Pings were suppressed, and the organisation was 

8 



114 Kidnapped in London. 

much more up-to-date and on a more enlightened 
basis than even that great rebelHon. In fact, it 
was the intelh'gence of the principal movers that 
caused the movement to be discountenanced at an 
early stage as premature, instead of struggling on 
with a more disastrous failure in view, for the 
revolution is only postponed, not abandoned for 
ever. The origin of the movement cannot be 
specifically traced ; it arose from the general dis- 
satisfaction of Chinese with Manchu rule, and it 
came to a head on the outbreak of war between 
China and Japan. The malcontents saw that the 
war afforded an opportunity to put their aspira- 
tions into shape, and they promptly set to work. 
At first, that is to say before China had been so 
soundly thrashed all along the line, they had in 
view purely lawful and constitutional measures, 
and hoped to effect radical changes without resort 
to violence. Dr. Sun worked hard and loyally to 
fuse the inchoate elements of disaffection brought 
into existence by Manchu misgovernment, and to 
give the whole reform movement a purely consti- 
tutional form, in the earnest hope of raising his 
wretched country out of the Slough of Despond 
in which it was and is sinking deeper daily. His 
was the master-mind that strove to subdue the 
wild uncontrollable spirits always prominent in 
Chinese reactionary schemes, to harmonise con- 
flicting interests, not only as between various 
parties in his own country but also as between 
Chinese and foreigners, and as between various 



Appendix. 115 



foreign Powers. The most difficult problem was 
to work out the sequel of any upheaval — to an- 
ticipate and be ready in advance to deal with 
all the complications bound to ensue as soon as 
the change took place. Moreover he had to bear 
in mind that any great reform movement must 
necessarily depend very largely on the aid of 
foreigners, of nations and individuals as well, 
while there is throughout China an immense mass 
of anti-foreign prejudice which would have to be 
overcome somehow. The task was stupendous, 
hopeless in fact, but he recognised that the sal- 
vation of China depended and still depends on 
something of the sort being some day rendered 
possible, and that the only way to accomplish it 
was to try, try, try again. That is to say, last 
year's attempt was not likely to succeed, but was 
likely to bring success a stage nearer, and in that 
sense it was well worth the effort to an ardent 
patriot. Dr. Sun was the only man who com- 
bined a complete grasp of the situation with a 
reckless bravery of the kind which alone can 
make a national regeneration. He was born in 
Honolulu, and had a good English education. 
He has travelled extensively in Europe and 
America, and is a young man of remarkable 
attainments. He was for some time a medical 
student in Dr. Kerr's School in Tientsin, and 
afterwards was on the staff of the Alice Memorial 
Hospital in Hong Kong. He is of average height, 
thin and wiry, with a keenness of expression and 

8 * 



Ii6 Kidnapped in London. 

frankness of feature seldom seen in Chinese. An 
unassuming manner and an earnestness of speech, 
combined with a quick perception and resolute 
judgment, go to impress one with the conviction 
that he is in every way an exceptional type of his 
race. Beneath his calm exterior is hidden a person- 
ality that cannot but be a great influence for good 
in China sooner or later, if the Fates are fair. In 
China, any advocate of reform or any foe of cor- 
ruption and oppression is liable to be regarded as 
a violent revolutionist, and summarily executed. It 
has been the same in the history of every country 
when freedom and enlightenment were in their 
infancy, or not yet born. The propaganda had 
therefore to be disseminated with the greatest 
care, and at imminent peril. First, an able and 
exhaustive treatise on political matters was pub- 
lished in Hong Kong, and circulated all over 
China, especially in the south, where it created 
a sensation, early in 1895. I^ was most cautiously 
worded, and the most censorious official could 
not lay his finger on a word of it and complain ; 
but it depicted in vivid colours the beauties of 
enlightened and honest government, contrasted 
with the horrors of corrupt and tyrannical mis- 
government. This feeler served to show how 
much voluntary reform could be expected of 
Chinese officialdom, for it had as much effect as 
a volume of sermons thrown among a shoal of 
sharks. Then it became no longer possible to 
control the spirits of insurrection. Steps were at 



Appendix. 117 



once taken to organise a rebellion, with which it 
is alleged, but not yet proved, that Dr. Sun Yat 
Sen was associated. Before the war there had 
been insurrectionary conspiracies — in fact, such 
things are chronic in China. The navy was 
disaffected, because of certain gross injustices 
and extortions practised on the officers and 
men by the all-powerful mandarins. The com- 
manders of land forces and forts were not much 
different, and many civilian officials were willing 
to join in a rising. No doubt much of the 
support accorded to the scheme was prompted 
by ulterior motives, for there are more of that sort 
than of any other in China. The rebellion was 
almost precipitated in March, when funds were 
supplied from Honolulu, Singapore, Australia, and 
elsewhere ; but men of the right sort were still 
wanting, and arms had not been obtained in great 
quantity, and wiser counsels prevailed. It would 
have been better perhaps if wiser counsels had 
prevailed in October, but wisdom cannot come 
without experience, and for the sake of the expe- 
rience the leaders of the abortive revolution do 
not greatly regret their action. Some indeed 
drew out as soon as it became certain that violent 
measures were to be adopted ; but the penalty of 
death would not be obviated by that, and it was 
at imminent risk of his life that Dr. Sun had been 
travelling throughout the length and breadth of 
China, preaching the gospel of good government 
and gathering recruits for constitutional reform. 



ii8 Kidnapped in London. 

His allies, never very confident in pacific methods, 
planned a bold coup d'etat, which might have gained 
a momentary success, but made no provision for 
what would happen in the next few moments. 
Men were drafted to Hong Kong to be prepared 
for an attack on Canton ; arms and ammunition 
were smuggled in cement-casks ; money was sub- 
scribed lavishly, foreign advisers and commanders 
were obtained, and attempts were made, without 
tangible result, to secure the co-operation of the 
Japanese Government. What would have been 
the result if the verbal sympathy of Japanese under- 
officials had been followed by active sympathy in 
higher quarters, none can tell ; the indemnity, the 
Liao-tung settlement, the commercial treaty, the 
whole history of the relations between Japan and 
China and Europe since the war might have been 
totally different. Every detail of the plot was 
arranged, but before the time for striking the blow, 
treachery stepped in. A prominent Chinese mer- 
chant of Hong Kong had professed adherence to 
the reform movement, for he had much to gain by 
it ; then he concluded that he could gain more by 
playing into the hands of the official vampires, 
for he was connected with one of the many syndi- 
cates formed to compete for railway and mining 
concessions in China after the war. So he gave 
information, and the cement was examined, with 
the result that the whole coup d'etat was nothing 
more than a flash in the pan. Dr. Sun happened 
to be in Canton at the time, and was accused of 



Appendix. 119 



active participation in the violent section of the 
reform movement. In China, to be innocent is 
not to be safe ; an accusation is none the less 
dangerous for being utterly unfounded. Sun had 
to fly for his life, without a moment's deliberation 
as to friends or property or anything else ; and for 
two or three weeks he was a fugitive hiding in 
the labyrinthine canals and impenetrable pirate- 
haunts of the great Kwang-tung Delta. A report 
has been published that forty or fifty of his sup- 
posed accomplices were executed, and a reward 
was offered for his arrest, but he got away to 
Honolulu and thence to America. The story goes 
that this indomitable patriot immediately set to 
work converting the Chinese at the Washington 
Embassy to the cause of reform, and that after- 
wards he tried to do the same in London ; that 
one of the Chinese in the Legation at Washington 
had professed sympathy with the apostle of en- 
lightenment, and then thought more money could 
be made on the other side, and so telegraphed to 
the London Embassy to arrest Sun and kidnap 
him back to China by hook or by crook. However 
that may be, he was captured and confined in a 
most outrageous manner in the London Legation, 
whatever plausible pifile may be put forward by 
Sir Halliday Macartney, or any servile prevari- 
cator ; and it is due to Dr. Cantlie, Sun's friend 
and teacher in Hong Kong, that one of the best 
men China has ever produced was rescued by 
British justice from the toils of treacherous man- 



120 Kidnapped in London. 

darindom. All who know Dr. Cantlie — and he is 
well known in many parts of the world — agree 
that a more upright, honourable and devoted bene- 
factor of humanity has never breathed. Dr. Sun 
is in good hands, and under the protection of such 
a man as Dr. Cantlie there can be little doubi 
that he will pursue his chosen career with single- 
hearted enthusiasm and most scrupulous straight- 
forwardness of methods, until at last the good 
work of humanising the miserable condition of 
the Chinese Empire is brought to a satisfactory 
state of perfection. 

A leading article in The Times of 
Saturday, October 24th, 1896, discusses 
the question very fully: 

While the '^ Concert of Europe " is supposed to 
be making steady progress towards the establish- 
ment of harmony amongst the constituent Powers, 
the ordinarily smooth course of diplomatic inter- 
course has been ruffled by a curious violation of 
law and custom at the Chinese Legation — a 
violation which might have led to tragic con- 
sequences, but which has so turned out as to 
present chiefly a ludicrous side for our con- 
sideration. Through a communication made on 
Thursday to our contemporary the GlohCy it 
became known that a Chinese visitor to England, 
a doctor named Sun Yat Sen, was imprisoned at 



Appendix. 121 



the house of the Chinese Minister, and that it 
was supposed to be the intention of his captors to 
send him under restraint to his own country, there 
to receive such measure of justice as a Chinese 
tribunal might be expected to extend to an 
alleged conspirator. Fortunately for the prisoner, 
he had studied medicine at Hong Kong, where he 
had made the acquaintance and had won the 
friendly regard of Mr. Cantlie, the Dean of the 
Hong Kong Medical College, and of Dr. Manson, 
both of whom are now residing in London. Sun 
Yat Sen was sufficiently supplied with money, and 
he succeeded in finding means of communication 
with these English friends, who at once took steps 
to inform the police authorities and the Foreign 
Office of what was being done, while, at the 
same time, they employed detectives to watch the 
Legation, in order to prevent the possibility of 
the prisoner being secretly conveyed away. Lord 
Salisbury, as soon as he was informed of what 
had occurred, made a demand for the immediate 
release of the prisoner, who was forthwith set at 
liberty, and was taken away by Mr. Cantlie and 
Dr. Manson, who attended in order to identify 
him as the person they had known. He has since 
furnished representatives of the Press with an 
account of the circumstances of his capture and 
detention, an account which differs in important 
respects from that of the Chinese authorities. If 
the Chinese had accomplished their supposed 
object, and had smuggled Sun Yat Sen on ship- 



122 Kidnapped in London. 

board, to be tried and probably executed in 
China, our Foreign Office would have had to deal 
with an offence against the comity of nations for 
which it would have been necessary to demand 
and obtain the punishment of all concerned. The 
failure of the attempt may perhaps be held to 
bring it too near the confines of comic opera to 
furnish a subject for anything more than serious 
remonstrance. 

The offence alleged against Sun Yat Sen is 
that his medical character is a mere cloak for 
other designs, and that he is really Sun Wen, the 
prime mover in a conspiracy which was dis- 
covered in 1894, ^^d which had for its object the 
dethronement of the present reigning dynasty. 
The first step of the conspirators was to be the 
capture of the Viceroy of Canton, who was to be 
kidnapped when inspecting the arsenal ; but the 
plot, like most plots, leaked out or was betrayed, 
and fifteen of the ringleaders were arrested and 
decapitated. Sun Wen saved himself by timely 
flight, and made his way through Honolulu and 
America to this country, being all the time 
carefully watched by detectives. On reaching 
England, at the beginning of the present month, 
he called upon his old friends, Mr. Cantlie and 
Dr. Manson, and prepared to commence a course 
of medical study in London. A few days later 
he disappeared, and on the evening of last Saturday 
Mr. Cantlie was informed of his position. Sun 
Wen, or Sun Yat Sen, whichever he may be 



Appendix. 123 



alleges that he was walking in or near Portland 
Place on the nth inst., when he was accosted in 
the street by a fellow-countryman, who asked 
whether he was Chinese or Japanese; and, being 
told in reply that he was Chinese and a native of 
Canton, hailed him as a fellow provincial, and 
kept him in conversation until a second and then 
a third Chinaman joined them. One of the three 
left, while the other two walked slowly on until 
they reached the Legation, when the others 
invited Sun to enter, and supported the invitation 
by the exercise of a certain amount of force. As 
soon as he was inside, the door was shut and he 
was conveyed upstairs to a room where, as he 
alleges, he was seen by Sir Halliday Macartney, 
and in which he was afterwards kept close prisoner 
until released by the intervention of Lord Salis- 
bury. The officials of the Chinese Legation, on 
the other hand, assert that the man came to the 
Legation of his own accord on Saturday, the 
loth, and entered into conversation, talking about 
Chinese affairs, and appearing to want only a 
chat with some of his fellow-countrymen, after 
having which he went away ; and that it was not 
until after he had gone that suspicion was excited 
that he might be the notorious Sun Wen, who had 
fled from justice at home, whose passage through 
America and departure for England had already 
been telegraphed to the Legation, and who was 
actually then being watched by a private detective 
in the employment of the Chinese Government. 



124 Kidnapped in London, 

Sun came to the Legation a second time, on 
Sunday, the nth, and then, evidence of his 
identity having been obtained, he was made 
prisoner. It had been supposed that he was 
about to return to Hong Kong as to a convenient 
base for further operations ; and it was the inten- 
tion of the Chinese Government to ask for his 
extradition as soon as he arrived there. In the 
meanwhile the actual presence of the supposed 
conspirator in the Legation furnished a temptation 
which it was found impossible to resist, and he 
was locked up until instructions with regard to 
him could arrive from Pekin. There can be little 
doubt that these instructions, if they had been 
received and could have been acted upon, would 
have effectually destroyed his power to engage in 
any further conspiracies ; and it may be assumed 
that the intervention of Lord Salisbury was not 
too early. Even as it was Sun appears to have 
suffered considerable anxiety lest the food supplied 
to him at the Legation should be unwholesome in 
its character. 

The simple process of cutting a knot is often 
preferable to the labour of untying it, and we are 
not very much surprised that the Chinese Minister 
or his representative should have authorized the 
adoption of the course which has happily failed of 
success. But we cannot conceal our surprise that 
Sir Halliday Macartney, himself an Englishman, 
should have taken any part in a transaction mani- 
festly doomed to failure, and the success of which 



Appendix. 125 



would have been ruinous to all engaged in it. 
The Chinese Minister is said to have surrendered 
his prisoner " without prejudice,*' as lawyers say, 
to his assumed rights; but he appears to have 
claimed a right which is not acknowledged by any 
civilized country, and which would be intolerable 
if it were exercised. It would be a somewhat 
similar proceeding if the Turkish Ambassador 
were to inveigle some of the leading members of 
the Armenian colony in London into the Embassy, 
in order to despatch them, gagged and bound, as 
an offering to his Imperial Majesty the Sultan, or 
if Lord Dufferin had in the same way made a 
private prisoner of Tynan, and had sent him to 
stand his trial at the Old Bailey. It is well recog- 
nised that the house of a foreign mission is regarded 
as a portion of the country from which the mission 
is sent, and that not only the Minister himself, but 
also the recognised members of his suite, enjoy an 
immunity from liability to the laws of the country 
to which the Ambassador is accredited ; but this 
hardly entitles the Ambassador to exercise powers 
of imprisonment or of criminal jurisdiction, and 
the privileges of the Embassy as a place of refuge 
for persons unconnected with it are strictly limited 
to the ground on which it stands. Even if the 
Chinese Minister could not have been prevented 
from keeping Sun in custody, he would have been 
liberated by the police as soon as he was brought 
over the threshold to be conveyed elsewhere. It 
is fortunate that he did not suffer from any form 



126 Kidnapped in London. 

of illness ; for if he had died during his imprison- 
ment, it is very difficult to say what could have 
been done in consequence. Evidence would have 
been very hard to procure ; and, even if it had 
been procured, the persons of the Minister and of 
his servants would have been sacred. Probably 
the only course would have been to demand that 
the Minister should be recalled, and that he should 
be put upon his trial in his own country; a demand 
which might perhaps have been readily complied 
with, but which might not improbably have led to 
what Englishmen would describe as a miscarriage 
of justice. We think that this country, almost as 
much as the prisoner, may be congratulated upon 
the turn of events ; and we have no doubt that 
the Foreign Office will find ways and means of 
making the rulers of the Celestial Empire under- 
stand that they have gone a little too far, and that 
they must not commit any similar offence in the 
future. 

This Article called forth a remonstrance 
from Sir Halliday Macartney, in w^hich 
he stated his views : 

To the Editor of The Times. 

Sir, — In your leading article of to-day, com- 
menting on the alleged kidnapping of an individ- 
ual, a Chinese subject, calling himself, amongst 
numerous other aliases, by the name of Sun Yat 
Sen, you make some remarks with regard to me 



Appendix, 127 

which I cannot but consider as an exception to 
the fairness which in general characterises the 
comments of Ths Times, 

After stating the case as given by the two 
opposite parties, in the surprise which you express 
at my conduct, you take it for granted that the 
statement of Sun Yat Sen is the correct one and 
that of the Chinese Legation the wrong one. 

I do not know why you make this assumption, 
for you undoubtedly do so when you say the case 
is as if the Turkish Ambassador had inveigled 
some of the members of the Armenian colony of 
London into the Embassy with a view to making 
them a present to his Majesty the Sultan. 

Now, I repeat what I have said before — that in 
this case there was no inveiglement. The state- 
ment of Sun Yat Sen — or, to call him by his real 
name, Sun Wen — that he was caught in the 
street and hustled into the Legation by two 
sturdy Chinamen is utterly false. 

He came to the Legation unexpectedly and of 
his own accord, the first time on Saturday, the 
loth, the second on Sunday, the nth. 

Whatever the pundits of international law may 

think of his detention, they may take it as being 

absolutely certain that there was no kidnapping 

and that he entered the Legation without the 

employment of force or guile. 

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

Halliday Macartney. 
Richmond House, 

49 Portland Place, W., 
Oct. 2/^th. 



128 Kidnapped in London. 

Sir Halliday Macartney's remarks about 
my going under various aliases, is no 
doubt intended to cast a slur upon my 
character ; but Sir Halliday knows, no 
one better, that every Chinaman has four 
names at least to which he is entitled. 
1st, the name one's parents bestow on 
their child. 2nd, the name given by the 
schoolmaster. 3rd, the name a young 
man wishes to be known by when he goes 
out into society. 4th, the name he takes 
when he is married. The only constant 
part of the name is the first syllable — 
the surname, really the family name; 
the other part of the name varies accord- 
ing as it is the parent, the schoolmaster, 
etc., chooses. Whilst upon this subject it 
may not be without interest to know that 
my accuser has various aliases by which 
he is known to the Chinese. In addition 
to the name Ma-Ta-Yen, which means 
Macartney, His Excellency, he is also 
known as Ma-Ka-Ni, and as Ma-Tsing- 



Appendix. 129 



Shan, showing that no name is constant 
in China except the family name. 

From The Speaker, October 31st, 1896. 

THE DUNGEONS OF PORTLAND PLACE. 

Sir Halliday Macartney is an official in the 
service of the Chinese Government. That fact 
seems to have deprived him of any sense of 
humour he might otherwise have had, which, we 
imagine, would in no circumstances have been 
conspicuous. The Secretary of the Chinese 
Legation has struck an attitude of injured in- 
nocence in The Times, He is Hke Woods Pasha, 
when that undiscerning personage stands up for 
the Turkish Government in an English newspaper. 
What in a true Oriental would seem natural and 
characteristic, in the sham Oriental is merely 
ridiculous. Sir Halliday Macartney assures the 
world that the Chinese medical gentleman who 
was lately released from the Portland Place 
Bastille was not inveigled into that institution. 
To the obvious suggestion that Sun Yat Sen 
would never have walked into the Chinese 
Embassy of his own accord, had he known the 
real identity of his entertainers. Sir Halliday 
vouchsafes no reply. It is unquestionable that he 
saw the captive, and took no measures to set him 
at liberty, till a peremptory requisition came from 
the Foreign Office. If it was not intended to 

9 



130 Kidnapped in London. 

deport Sun Yat Sen to China, why was he kept a 
prisoner ? Sir Halliday Macartney is in the 
pitiable position of an Englishman who is forced 
by his official obligations to palliate in London 
what would be the ordinary course of justice at 
Canton. A purely Chinese emissary would have 
said nothing. Having failed in his manoeuvre, 
he v/ould have accepted the consequences of 
defeat with the fatalism of his race and native 
climate. The spectacle of Sir Halliday Macartney 
fussing and fuming in the Times like an English- 
man, w^hen he ought to hold his peace like a 
Chinaman, can only suggest to the authorities at 
Pekin that their English representative here is a 
rather incompetent person. 

On the other hand, there is som.ething in this 
Chinese kidnapping w^hich is irresistibly divert- 
ing. Englishmen can never take the Chinaman 
seriousty, in spite of Charles Pearson's prediction 
that the yellow man will one day eat us up. The 
personality of Ah Sin, especially when he wears a 
pigtail and his native costume, is purely comic to 
the average sightseer. If the men who decoyed 
Sun Yat Sen were pointed out to a London crowd, 
they v;ould be greeted not with indignation, but 
wuth mildly derisive banter. It might go hard 
with any Europeans who had tried the same 
game ; but Ah Sin, the childhke and bland, is a 
traditional joke. His strategy excites no more 
resentm.ent than the nodding of the ornamental 
mandarin on the mantelpiece. The popular idea 



Appendix. 131 



of Lord Salisbury's intervention in this case is 
probably that the Chinaman's pigtail has been 
gently but decisively pulled, and that such a 
lesson is quite sufficient without any public anger. 
Had a German or a Frenchman been kidnapped 
in similar circumstances, the situation would at 
once have been recognised as extremely serious. 
The capture and incarceration in Portland Place 
simply excite a smile. The newspapers have 
treated the incident as they treat the announce- 
ment that Li Hung Chang, promoted to be 
Imperial Chancellor of China, had at the same 
time been punished for an unauthorised visit to 
the Empress Dowager. How can you be angry 
with a people whose solemnities frequently strike 
the Occidental mind as screaming farce ? It is 
impossible to pass No. 40 Portland Place with a 
romantic shudder. That middle-class dwelling, 
of substantial and comfortable aspect, is now a 
Bastille poiiv riye, and excites the mirth of trades- 
men's boys, who must feel strongly tempted, by 
way of celebrating the Fifth of November, to ring 
the bell and introduce a Celestial guy to the 
puzzled servitors of the Embassy, with a fluent 
tirade in pigeon- English. 

As for Sun Yat Sen, it cannot escape his notice 
that there is little curiosity to know the precise 
reason why he is obnoxious to the Chinese Govern- 
ment. He is said to have taken part in a con- 
spiracy against the Viceroy of Canton, a statement 
which conveys no vivid impression to the popular 

9 * 



132 Kidnapped in London. 

mind. Political refugees — Italians, Poles, Hun- 
garians — have commonly inspired a romantic 
interest in this country. They have figured in 
our fiction, always a sure criterion of public 
sympathies. When the storyteller takes the 
foreign conspirator in hand, you may be sure that 
the machinations, escapes, and so forth touch a 
responsive chord in the popular imagination. But 
no storyteller is likely to turn the adventures of 
Sun Yat Sen to such account, though they may be 
really thrilling, and though this worthy Celestial 
medico may have been quite a formidable person 
in his native land. Even the realistic descriptions 
by travellers of Chinese administration, the gentle 
coercion of witnesses in the courts by smashing 
their ankles, the slicing of criminals to death, 
have not given a sinister background to the figure 
of the Heathen Chinee. The ignominious defeat 
of the Chinese arms in the late war has 
strengthened the conception of the yellow man as 
a rather grotesquely ineffectual object. If Sun 
Yat Sen were to deliver a lecture on his adven- 
tures, and paint the tyranny of the Viceroy 
of Canton in the deepest colours, or if Sir 
Halliday Macartney were to show that his late 
prisoner was a monster of ferocity, compared to 
whom all the Western dynamiters were angels in 
disguise, we doubt whether either story would 
command the gravity of the public. The Chinese 
have their virtues ; they are a frugal, thrifty, and 
abstemious people; they practise a greater respect 



Appendix. 133 



for family ties than Western nations. The 
custom of worshipping their ancestors, though 
one of the chief stumbhng-blocks to the Christian 
missionaries, probably exercises a greater moral 
influence than the reverence for genealogy here. 
But no audience in England or America would 
accept these virtues as rebukes to the short- 
comings of the Anglo-Saxon civilisation. So deep 
is the gulf between Occident and Orient that the 
pride of neither will learn from the other, and 
both are indiiferent to the warnings of prophets 
who foretell the triumph of the Caucasian in the 
Flowery Land or the submergement of Europe by 
the yellow flood of immigration. All Western 
notions are regarded in China with a contempt 
which even the travels of Li are not likely to 
dispel ; and No. 40 Portland Place can never 
recover that prestige of harmless nonentity it 
enjoyed before the pranks of the Chinese Embassy 
made it a centre of the ludicrous. 

The follov^ing is a copy of the letter 
I sent to the nev^spapers thanking the 
Government and the Press for what they 
had done for me : 



To the Editor of the 



Sir, — Will you kindly express through your 
columns my keen appreciation of the action of 
the British Government in eflecting my release 



134 Kidnapped in London. 

from the Chinese Legation ? I have also to thank 
the Press generally for their timely help and 
sympathy. If anything were needed to convince 
me of the generous public spirit which pervades 
Great Britain, and the love of justice which 
distinguishes its people, the recent acts of the last 
few days have conclusively done so. 

Knowing and feeling more keenly than ever 
what a constitutional Government and an enlight- 
ened people mean, I am prompted still more 
actively to pursue the cause of advancement, 
education, and civilisation in my own well-beloved 
but oppressed country. 

Yours faithfully, 

Sun Yat Sen. 

46 Devonshire Street, 
Portland Place, W., 
Oct. 24. 



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